Don't Fall in Love
by elieandra
Summary: OC x Kendall. Elie is a production assistant for Big Time Rush. She and Kendall are starting to fall for one another but don't want and know how to start anything between them. Not very mature now, but perhaps later. Sorry for the crappy summary. Be kind.
1. Chapter 1

**1**

Elie was relieved that the Starbucks nearest the studios was not packed as usual. _Great_ she thought, _I could catch up on my reading before I bring them their coffee._ She ordered the usual (iced nonfat venti caramel macchiato, extra shot), and as she was fishing for money in her purse, she heard a familiar voice say, "I got it."

"Kendall, why are you paying for my drink?" Elie asked. The question she really wanted to ask was why was Kendall in Starbucks so early?

"I couldn't sleep, yada, yada," Kendall replied. "Anyway, you're welcome," he said as he smiled at Elie and sipped a bit of her coffee. Kendall's face immediately turned sour. "You could have just chewed coffee beans instead, geez. What is this?"

"I need the extra caffeine today, and THANK YOU KIBS. Now, give me that," Elie said as she grabbed her drink from Kendall.

"Why are YOU early?" Kendall asked Elie.

"I couldn't sleep either, and I woke up super early. So I thought why not swing by here? I could get you your coffee now if you want," Elie offered. "Here," she said as she hands over her tray to Kendall, "Go find us a seat."

Kendall found one soon enough, a couch right by the corner, somewhat hidden from everyone. As he put the tray down on the tiny table, he surveyed the area and watched Elie as she ordered his coffee and an order of French toast. _So thoughtful all the time, _he thought. He smiled to himself for a bit.

"Here you go, Kibs," Elie said as she placed Kendall's breakfast on the table.

"Thank you. You're very nice," Kendall tells Elie. "And stop calling me Kibs."

"I try to be. And you're welcome," Elie replies with a smile.

They spent the next hour eating, finishing their coffees, and chatting away about mundane stuff. Needless to say, Elie had gotten no reading done. They would have forgotten about the time, if not for a text message to Kendall reminding him about call time in five minutes.

"Oh shit, I have to get coffee for the guys!" Elie said, half-panicked, as she tried to recall which coffee went with what and which syrup should go with what coffee. "You go ahead, Kendall. Tell the boys I'll be there in 5 minutes. I'll run."

"Nonsense. I'll help you. The studio's right there, and they wouldn't start without me anyway. It's my scene."

Kendall helped Elie with the coffee orders and drove together to the studios. Kendall walked on the set and the crew still hasn't finished setting up the scene. He handed Logan's coffee to him.

"Why are you bringing me coffee, numbnuts?" Logan asked.

"Hey man, where's my coffee? Where's Elie? Why did you give Logan coffee? Where's my coffee?" Carlos piped in.

"Here you go, Carlos," Elie said as she hands Carlos his cup. "Where's James?"

"In his dressing room," Logan replied. And off Elie went.

"And you, young man, why were you with her?" Logan asked as soon as Elie was out of earshot.

"Why am I… what? Why are you asking me why I'm with her? I went to Starbucks, she was there," Kendall told Logan.

"Yeah, the Starbucks she hangs out with before going to work. The Starbucks I told you I saw her enter about a week ago when I was early for work but didn't have a chance to call out to her because she went in fast," Carlos said in an accusing tone.

"I went to Starbucks, she was there. I paid for her coffee, we -"

"Ooooh. Paid for her coffee, eh?" Carlos said. Carlos and Logan were looking at each other with knowing looks.

"What?!" Kendall was getting annoyed.

"Two weeks, man," Logan said, "And she isn't even blonde."

"Who isn't blonde?" James joined in the discussion.

"Elie," Logan and Carlos said in unison.

"Aaaaah," James said, nodding his head, seemingly in agreement with Logan and Carlos.

"What is up with you three? She was there, I was there!" At this point, Kendall was turning red and his voice was starting to get louder.

"Oh look, he's blushing!" Carlos said, as he roared with laughter.

"Okay, guys, enough. Cut it out," said a booming voice. It was Ranel, their body guard.

"Thank you, Ranel. At least someone's on my side, you stupid fucks," Kendall said as he walked towards his dressing room. Ranel joined him a few moments later. "Thanks, man, for coming to my defense. Those three idiots are way over -"

Ranel suddenly cut him off. "Do you remember what I told you when Elie first got here?" Ranel asked.

At this point, Kendall was at the door and was opening his dressing room. "No, not really, no. What was it?"

From the corner of their eyes they could see Elie a few yards away, carrying Kendall's costume changes for the day.

"I told you not to fall in love," Ranel said with a shrug and a smirk.

Kendall just stared at Ranel, not quite believing he heard what he just heard.

"Hey, Ranel! How's it going today?" Elie asked Ranel cheerfully.

"Not much so far. Let me help you with those," said Ranel, while taking a big bunch of clothing and props from Elie. Kendall was still looking at Ranel, thinking about what he just said. Meanwhile, Elie was giving out reminders for Kendall.

"…and you're needed in the makeup chair in 20 minutes so you better change into the blue shirt, not the green one okay?" Elie notices that Kendall seemed a bit too quiet and was staring into an empty space. "Oh my God, Kendall. Please don't tell me you had a joint before taping. Right before taping, Kendall? Really? Are you kidding me?" She rapped Kendall's arm.

"Huh, what?" Kendall said, coming back from his reverie.

"Go change. You're needed in the makeup room in 20 minutes," was Elie's reply.

Taping went on smoothly. The boy kept riding Kendall about Elie when she was out of earshot, so taping wasn't as smooth for Kendall as he had hoped. He was in his dressing room when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said. It was Elie. Why did she seem to be everywhere today?

She popped her head through the door. "Do you, uh, need anything for next taping? I mean apart from the usual coffee. I need to go back to Corona right about now, so if you can't think of anything now you can just call me, okay?"

Kendall just nodded. At that point, Carlos walks into Kendall's dressing room.

"Hi, Carlos. Do you need anything for next time?" Elie asked.

"Uh, me and Logan and James and Kendall are going out to eat. Care to join us?" said Carlos.

"No can do, Papi. I need to go back to Corona right now. Maybe next time?" Elie replied. And off she went.

"See, Kendall? See how easy it is to ask her out?" Carlos chided Kendall.

"Ha-ha very funny," Kendall snorted at Carlos.

"You need to stop falling in love with every person who brings us coffee, dude," Carlos said.

"I don't fall in love with everyone, Carlos," Kendall replied. "Just this one."

Now it was Carlos' turn to register a look of shock on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

It all started two weeks ago when Elie took a job as a production assistant at Nickelodeon. It was a part time job, something to make her explore any and all possibilities that it might bring. It was also something to keep her preoccupied. She was easily bored, so she loved getting busy.

Dark-haired, a bit weird, and shy, Elie believed she had nothing special in terms of looks but her brain was a different story. She had always believed and known she was smart, so that was what she mostly cared about. Not that she dressed shabbily or didn't take care of herself. "I'm not a great beauty, or any kind of beauty for that matter. But I'm not ugly," she used to say. She got along well with everyone, mostly because she kept to herself a lot and didn't engage in workplace politics. She especially got on well with the stars of the show she was assigned to, even though she was quite a bit older than them. She called them her babies, much to the chagrin of the young men who were obviously trying to establish their manhood. And even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, she got along really well with Kendall.

Tattoos were there main point of agreement; Elie has a couple of tattoos and Kendall has a few. Apart from that they also talk a lot about music, coffee, travel, food, and a host of other things. It's a cool friendship, as Elie likes to put it.

"What are you going to do now?" Carlos asked Kendall after recovering from the initial shock.

"Nothing. I can't start something I don't even completely understand yet. Can we not talk about this?" Kendall pleaded. "And don't tell anyone."

"Too late, man. I already texted Logan," Carlos said.

"WHAT THE FUCK CARLOS?" Kendall yelled at Carlos, standing up, towering over him.

"…and James and Ranel," Carlos trailed off, trying to get away from Kendall. At that moment, Logan and James burst into Kendall's dressing room. Clearly they just got Carlos' text. Ranel followed suit.

"What's this I hear about someone falling in love with someone?" Logan asked as he cocked an eyebrow at Kendall.

"Look, guys, it's not a big deal. And please don't… stop. Just stop," Kendall said, exasperated at all the teasing and chiding. "I don't want things to be awkward. Let's just let this pass. She does not feel the same way."

"You don't know that," Ranel said.

"Don't get my hopes up," Kendall replied.

"Oh, so you have hopes. Uh-huh. Hmm," James butted in.

"No. Yes. It's… I can't even with you guys anymore. JUST STOP," Kendall was raising his voice again. "Can we not discuss this again? Can we not be awkward or weird around Elie, please? And can you not be weird around ME?"

"Sorry, man," Logan replied. The rest of the guys mumbled their apologies as well. And then everybody was quiet. And then James' phone rang. He answered.

"Oh hey, Elie," he said, looking at Kendall. As soon as he heard Elie's name, Kendall's eyes lit up. "Yes, I got it. Thank you. By the way Kendall's in love with you. Uh-huh, yep. He's –"

Kendall grabbed James' phone. "HeyElieJameswasjustkiddingdo ntbelieveawordhesays," he said in one breath. "Hello? Hello? She hung up. AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT JAMES?!"

"No, she didn't hang up. You're just stupid," James said. Kendall stared at him with a clueless look on his face. "That wasn't a call. That was my alarm. And you don't need us to give you away, you give yourself away. If you could only see the look on your face when her name was mentioned. You are seriously nuts to deny this," James scoffed at Kendall.

"I. AM NOT. IN LOVE. WITH ELIE," Kendall emphasized.

"Keep telling yourself that. You might not be in love with her now, but you will be," Carlos said.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going home," Kendall said as he exited the door.

"Asses," he muttered under his breath.

Kendall didn't want to go home yet so he kept driving around, trying to clear his head. No, he was not in love. _I'm not in love. Or falling in love. Or whatever._ He parked his car and walked a few yards to a coffee shop. He ordered his coffee and as he turned around to look for a seat, he sees Elie in table by the corner, reading. He tried calling out to her, but she couldn't hear him because she had earphones on. Kendall looked at her as she bobbed her head ever-so-slightly to the music only she can hear, and moved her lips to what she was listening to.

Elie must have sensed somebody was staring at her because she looked up, meeting Kendall's gaze. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Kendall approached her table.

"I'm never going to get any reading done with you popping out from nowhere all the damn time," Elie said, smiling at Kendall.

"I was in the neighborhood," Kendall replied.

"Sure you were," Elie said as she turned her attention back to the book she was reading.

"Hahah, what was that supposed to mean?" Kendall asked nervously.

"You're not from here. If you were, I would have seen you a long time ago. So spill, who were you stalking?" Elie replied.

_You, but not intentionally because I didn't really know where you live and this encounter was purely accidental – no, serendipitous _was what he wanted to say. Instead, he said, "No one. I was driving around after taping because I had nowhere to go and I was bored."

"Aww, poor baby," Elie said, pretend-pouting at Kendall. "I should've taken you with me. At least I had someone to talk to on the way to Corona and back."

"What were you doing in Corona anyway?" Kendall inquired.

"Errands. I had to deliver some medical and home care supplies to the home care center in Corona. Am I boring you?" Elie asked. "This is just random everyday stuff. Sorry to bore you."

"No, no. Why would you think that?" Kendall said.

"Your eyes were glazing over, hahaha… like you were looking through me," Elie said with a laugh.

"Was I?" Kendall blushed a little and laughed at how ridiculous he must have looked.

"You look hungry. Have you eaten?" Elie asked when they were done laughing.

"No, I actually haven't," Kendall replied.

"Good. Let's get out of here and look for a place to eat then," Elie said as she started gathering her things.

The cool evening air greeted them as they exited the coffee shop. It was a beautiful night. Since it was still quite early, not a lot of people were walking and driving around. It was just starting to get dark.

"Should we take a car or…?" Kendall asked.

"How about we walk around to see what this neighborhood has to offer? I hope you don't mind that it's not too fancy, Mr. Hollywood," Elie teased.

"Psshhh, I'm not like that," Kendall replied, extending his arm towards Elie. "Come, let's take a walk."

"Wow, a gentleman," Elie said, taking Kendall's arm. "I like that."

"Y-you do?" Kendall croaked.

"It means your mama raised you well," Elie said, holding on to Kendall's arm as they started walking around. "So what do we want to eat? Are you up for something more exotic? Oh no, wait, you're quite the fussy eater."

"I'm trying to be more adventurous with what I eat, so give me your best shot," Kendall said. That made Elie laugh, and she momentarily leaned her head on Kendall's shoulder. He got a whiff of Elie's hair. It was intoxicating. Kendall thought he'd die right then and there.

"No, dude, I won't give you my best shot because I don't want to explain to your mom how her son started throwing up all over Los Angeles," Elie said, surveying the restaurants in the area while absent-mindedly tapping Kendall's arm. "I wonder where's a good place to start you with. Oh, there!"

Elie grabbed Kendall's hand and dragged him to a Thai food place next to a Vietnamese banh mi place. "Okay, here's what we'll do," Elie said as she cleared the hair away from her face. We won't just eat at one place. We'll eat one thing at one place, and then we move on to the next place. Sounds good? Do you have money on you?"

"Sounds good and yes, I do have cash with me," Kendall replied.

"Good, because I don't have enough on me to pay for both of us. So we each pay for our own food, okay?" Elie asked.

"How about I pay for both of us?" Kendall said.

"Nuh-uh," Elie disapproved. "You pay for yours, I pay for mine. End of discussion." She smiled at Kendall. "So let's start here, Thai. Or more specifically, pad thai," Elie said as she took Kendall's hand again and dragged him to the Thai place.

Their next stop was the Vietnamese banh mi place, and then off to some Japanese. They were both stuffed at the end of their third meal.

"Oh God, I don't want to eat ever again," Elie groaned.

"Same," Kendall simply said, rubbing his stomach while sitting down next to Elie on a bench.

"Ooh, the young ones are out! Look, Kendall," Elie motioned for Kendall to look at the young women walking around, looking for a place to eat. "I think that girl's your type." Elie nudged an elbow at Kendall.

"What's my type?" Kendall asked Elie.

"Well… most probably blonde, because you like blondes. No, you **love** blondes. Fun type, that sort," Elie replied.

Kendall raised an eyebrow at her. "And you got all that in the two weeks you've known me?"

"I can google."

"You google me?" Kendall said, smirking.

"Don't be fresh. I google everyone," Elie replied. "I hate not knowing anything. And since I'm gonna be working for you guys, I might as well know a lot of stuff about you."

"And what have you read about me in those googling sessions?"

"A loooot of stuff," Elie said, nodding at Kendall. "But going back to the subject at hand, you love blondes. How about that girl right there?" She pointed at a blonde across the street wearing what looks like the tightest pants possible.

"Those pants are mighty tight," Kendall said.

"I don't know. Those might be jeggings," Elie countered, and they both burst out laughing at the fashion commentary.

"We have the nerve to talk," Elie said, still laughing.

"Excuse you, if you must know, this is Diesel Black Gold and All Saints," Kendall said in defense.

"Apologies, apologies, but I'm only wearing Muji. But I'm also wearing Comme des Garcons that I had to save up a long time for, so just for that you lose the fashion standoff," Elie said.

"I didn't know there was a competition," Kendall said, laughing.

"Ah, well. Anyway, should we be heading home?" Elie asked.

"I'll drive you home," Kendall replied.

"I live like five blocks away. Don't worry about me, I can walk," Elie said.

"No, I'll drive you home. It's dark and…"

"And there might be monsters and werewolves and evil elves along the way? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Okay then, I'll walk you home," Kendall said.

"No, no, no, no, no. How will you get back to your car? You'll get lost, and then I'll get fired!" Elie said in horror.

"I'm glad you care about my safety," Kendall said sarcastically. "C'mon, Elie. Let me drive you home."

"Okay, if you insist. Now where's that shiny car of yours?"

_**I'm crap at writing but I just want to write stuff down, okay. I do hope at least one other person likes this.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

There was still a noticeable spring in Kendall's step on the next taping day. He hasn't told anyone yet about his impromptu date with Elie. _Date? It wasn't necessarily a date. We just ran into one another, like for real. But if it were a date, that was a great one. _Kendall's thoughts were nonstop since that night. He got his phone out and looked at his save screen. It was a photo of Elie he took in secret, unbeknownst to Elie, while they were out that night. In that photo, she was looking down at her phone, checking for messages. He just had the urge to take her photo at that moment. They had other photos from that night, making faces and such, but this particular one made him feel funny inside.

"You are a sick stalker bastard. Swiping pics off Facebook now, eh? Why don't you just ask her out and be done with it?" Carlos said from behind Kendall. Kendall didn't notice him approaching or even standing there. He was lost in his own world.

"What are you talking about?" Kendall asked defensively, hiding his phone.

"Give me your phone," Carlos said.

"Why would I give you my phone, man?" Kendall replied in a panic, holding his phone high up.

"I swear to God, Schmidt. You might be tall, but you're lanky and I can easily tackle you to the ground," Carlos threatened.

"I'd like to see you try."

And with that, Carlos lunged at Kendall, effectively toppling him to the ground. They were still on the floor, with Carlos trying to grab the phone and Kendall holding it away from him, when James walked in. Logan followed.

"I don't even know what's going on anymore," James quipped.

"Guys, guys," Logan called out to the two men on the ground. "Looks like these two need to be yelled at. GUYS!"

Kendall and Carlos looked up at Logan. "What is going on?"

Carlos and Kendall both spoke at the same time, both trying to get their point across.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Elie walked in with the boys' coffee and a couple of scripts. Carlos and Kendall immediately stopped their babbling.

"Um, nothing," Carlos said to Elie. Elie then looked at Kendall, whose arms were around Carlos' head.

"I don't know what you're talking to about," Kendall said.

Elie looked at them weirdly. "Oookay then. Here are your coffees and your scripts. I'll see you guys later." Elie leaves and Kendall lets go of Carlos.

"So can somebody at least tell us what's going on?" James asked impatiently.

And before Kendall can open his mouth, Carlos gave a reply, "Kendall stole some of Elie's pics from Facebook and used it as his save screen."

"OH MY GOD IT'S TRUE, YOU'RE IN LOVE," Logan yelled at Kendall.

"Shhhhhh. Can you pipe down?" Kendall said as he covers Logan's mouth. Logan furrowed his brows at Kendall as he removed Kendall's hands from his mouth.

"I didn't steal it from Facebook. I took it," Kendall said.

"I'm confused," James said. Carlos and Logan gave Kendall confused looks as well.

"I took it when we were out at dinner the other night," Kendall went on. A collective gasp was heard from the three other boys. "It was nothing."

"You went out and you say 'it was nothing'?" Carlos couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"It wasn't like that," Kendall was getting annoyed again with all the questioning.

"But was there ever a part of you that wished it was a date?" Logan interrogated.

"Well, it was -"

"Yes or no, Kendall Francis Schmidt," Logan said.

"I'm starting to feel threatened here," Kendall replied.

"YES OR NO!" Logan, James, and Carlos yelled.

"Jesus Christ. Yes. YES! Happy?" Kendall yelled back. "Why are you making a big deal out of this?"

"Because you've never been like this with anyone, Kendall. You're always 'Oh, she's hot. I wanna kiss her,' or 'Yep, I wanna fuck her silly," with other girls but not this one," Carlos said.

"And yet you're trying to shoot yourself down before anything even starts," James added. "You're always going on and on about having a broken heart but when you see your chance for healing and happiness, you bury it."

Everyone gave James strange looks.

"The fuck, man? What did you smoke?" Logan asked James.

"Don't hate man. It was a good joint. And what I said is true," James replied.

"I've known her two weeks. This can't be anything but a silly crush. Or maybe I'm just bored," Kendall said.

"It doesn't take a whole day to recognize sunshine, Kendall," James wisely said.

"I'm smoking what you're smoking. Let's go, James," Logan told James. "And oh, Kendall, don't reduce her to someone you stick to when you're bored. You know she's something else. We just wish you won't deny it or lie through your teeth when we ask you about it."

Now it was just Kendall and Carlos again.

"What are you afraid of, Kendall? I mean why so adamant about denying this even to us?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Kendall sighed.

Kendall stayed silent most of the day, and only spoke during scenes. Elie caught on to this and thought something was wrong. She went up to Kendall during one of the breaks.

"Are you alright?" Elie asked. Kendall could really see the concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, I am. Don't worry about me," he said as tried to smile at Elie.

"Really?" Elie said as she tried to feel Kendall's forehead. "Your temperature seems normal. Did something happen at home?"

"I said I'm fine," Kendall said testily. Elie was taken aback.

"Sorry," Elie whispered, looking down. "I'll just go. Sorry again." Elie hurried out of his dressing room before Kendall could stop her.

_Goddamnit Kendall, what is wrong with you? _He thought to himself as he threw a pillow across the room.

Elie went outside the studios for a bit of a smoke break after coming from Kendall's dressing room. Carlos saw him go out and followed her.

"You know those are bad for you, right?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, but I need them right now. This day's just ugh. I'm really glad it's ending in a bit and then I can relax for a couple of days," Elie said, closing her eyes while taking a puff from her cigarette.

"I guess that excuses it," Carlos said as he stood next to Elie.

"What's up with Kendall?" Elie asked.

"I don't know. Why?" Carlos was trying to play it safe, just in case Elie knows something.

"I went to check up on him 'cause I thought he was too quiet and sad-looking all day and he was like, 'I said I'm fine,' like he's on edge you know?" Elie took a drag and went on, "But maybe he was just having a bad day or maybe I'm acting all-too familiar with him. I mean I did try to feel his forehead because I thought he might be running a fever or something. So I don't know, maybe I should keep out and stay away a bit more."

Carlos was getting alarmed at what Elie was saying. If Elie distances herself from Kendall, that might be the end of it. _Why am I so invested in this? It's not like it's my heart that's going to get broken if Kendall keeps up with this stupidity. But we're all friends! _ "But we're all friends!" he said aloud. "You're our friend, so being concerned about him won't be a stretch, is it?"

"Oh good. I thought I was being an ass and being all too friendly with you guys," Elie replied, relieved. "But seriously, what is up with him?'

"I really don't know. Stress, maybe?"

"Aww, poor Kendall," Elie said softly. "Poor baby."

"Baby?" Carlos said with a laugh.

"You're all my babies, baby. The Latino one, the Jewish one, the Texan one, and that other one," Elie smiled.

"That other one? You had descriptive terms for all of us but Kendall's 'that other one'?" Carlos was laughing now, but the wheels in his head were turning. There just might be something here for Kendall.

"I don't know what to call him," Elie said with a tiny smile.

Carlos thought he saw just a tiny spark in Elie's eyes. "You could call him the special one because he acts like a special child all the time."

"Not all the time. Okay maybe most of the time," Elie smiled again. "I just want him happy," she mumbled.

"What did you say?" Carlos asked.

"What? Did I say something?" Elie asked back.

"I heard you say something, but I couldn't figure out what," Carlos said. Of course he heard what Elie said. He just wanted to hear it again. This is a breakthrough. But apparently, Elie can't remember.

"I'm sorry, I really can't remember. I wish I knew what it was," Elie replied. She was telling the truth. She couldn't remember what she said.

"Alrighty. I'm heading back in now. Last scene," Carlos said.

Carlos turned towards the door and as he walked towards the set, he thought, _A fish is caught by its mouth._ _Holy fucking deep shit. Where did James get his stash?_


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Later at taping, when everyone was on set, Elie met Kendall's gaze as the director was giving out instructions. Kendall mouthed, "I'm sorry," to Elie. To that Elie mouthed back, "It's okay," and smiled. Kendall heaved a sigh and turned his attention back to the director. Elie thought he looked a bit better now than earlier, but she still couldn't stop thinking about what made him seem so sad and a bit grumpy.

At the end of a long day, all the staff and crew were piling onto the cars to enjoy the weekend. Elie was one of the last to go and the parking lot was practically empty as she approached her car. She was about to get into her car when he heard a voice calling her name.

"EEEEEELLLLLIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" It was Carlos.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go for burgers!" a hyper Carlos said.

"But I have to -" Elie started, but Carlos cut her off.

"The last time you said next time. So this is the next time. Please?" Carlos said with a smile as he clasped his hands together, as though in prayer.

"Oh, alright," Elie said, shutting her car door. "But I can't be out too late. I have stuff to do."

"Stuff like what? It's Friday night!" Carlos said as they walked towards his car.

"I'm too old for Friday night," Elie said with a chuckle. "So uh, how are we getting there? Can we all fit in your car? I mean I could just follow you guys in my car."

"Uh, we'll take 2 cars going there. James and Logan have already gone ahead and you, me, and Kendall will go in my car. And then after that I'll just drop you guys here so you could get your cars," Carlos answered, hoping he got all the bases covered. The burger joint was a 20-minute drive and Carlos thought maybe that was enough time to at least accomplish something with Elie and Kendall, or at least plant a seed in their heads about one another. Or at least get more info.

"So, where are we headed?" Elie asked from the backseat as Carlos drove out of Paramount.

"There's this place that James went to a couple of weeks ago and he said it was awesome and he wanted to go back with us," Carlos replied.

"What's the place called?" Elie asked.

"Kendall, what's the place called?" Carlos said as he motioned for Kendall to answer Elie's question. _Why aren't these two talking? _ He thought.

Kendall turned to Elie and said, "It's called 'Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.'"

"Great name," Elie said, nodding. "That'd be interesting to have nearby."

"Any cool burger joints where you live, Elie? Where do you live?" Carlos asked.

"Orange County," Kendall said before Elie could even answer.

"Aww, you remembered," Elie said as he pinched Kendall's cheeks.

"Ouch," Kendall yelped.

"So how would Kendall know where you live?" Carlos asked.

"We had dinner a couple of nights ago, was it? It was great. We ate a ton of food. Right, Kendall?" Elie said, turning towards Kendall.

"You had a date?" Carlos asked again.

"NO!" came Kendall's booming reply. "I mean it wasn't like that."

"Kendall walked into the coffee shop I was in and he looked hungry so I invited him to dinner. Hardly a date," Elie said as she tinkered with something on her phone and then glanced at Kendall. "Are we there yet?"

"Ten more minutes, Elie," Carlos replied, looking at Elie through the rearview mirror. Kendall, on the other hand, was looking straight ahead, obviously thinking about something.

"I'm checking out the reviews for the place, and there are pretty good food recommendations. I guess we should try them all, right?" Elie suggested.

"I'm pretty hungry too, so I could probably eat everything on their menu," Carlos replied.

They had not had much to talk about after that exchange, except for some small talk about directions and random food suggestions. A few minutes before they reached the burger joint, Elie received a text message from Kendall.

_Sorry. I'm just really stressed the past couple of days _

To which Elie replied_: It's OK __ Don't worry about it. I totally get you. Being stressed sucks._

A few moments later, Elie got another text from Kendall: _You're too nice _

_Thank you, _Elie replied. She looked up to find Kendall smiling at her through the rearview mirror.

"And here we are," Carlos said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of his car. Kendall seemed to linger for a bit since Elie was still in the car. When Elie was about to get out, Kendall hurriedly opened his car door and raced towards the other side of the car where Elie was getting out.

"Oh, hey," Elie said, surprised.

"I'm really sorry about today. I'm just a mess," Kendall said, holding the door open for Elie and then closing it after her.

"Like I said, Kibs, don't worry about it," Elie winked. "Now let's go get burgers!"

James was right, the burgers were really great. It was worth the 20-minute drive from the studios. They all sat at a makeshift long table made out of smaller tables and had a good time trying out burgers and lots of sides. The boys had put their Kendall-teasing in check because they noticed he seemed to be on edge whenever the teasing happened. But the good news was that Elie was with them and they could at least see them together. Well, almost together. They were seated at opposite ends of the long table, across one another.

Elie was having a great time with the boys. At one point during their time there, her eyes wandered around to Kendall. She doesn't know if it's the gorgeous California sunset, or Kendall's coloring, or maybe she was too full from the burger and the sweet potato fries, but all of a sudden the sight of Kendall made her heart beat faster. She looked at him for a split-second more than she should, and Kendall caught her looking at him. She just smiled at him to save face, and then turned her attention to James who was telling some story about his high school buddies. But Elie wasn't paying attention.

_Get a hold of yourself, Elie. You don't really want to start this now, Elie, do you? Do you?_

From the corner of her eye, Elie could feel Kendall's glances at her. She felt like hitting her head on the table. _Feelings are bad, bad, baaaaaaad. He's a kid. A cute kid, but you work for them. Also, a kid._

Kendall, on the other hand, wasn't doing much better, and took a turn for the worse when he caught Elie looking at him. Or at least that's what he wanted to not think Elie was doing. He wasn't sure whether to feel happy or horrified or both. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes just in time to see Elie intently listening to James' stories. For some reason the sunset made her look like she was glowing. _This is getting so much worse_, he thought to himself, and sighed.

"Kendall, earth to Kendall," Carlos whispered.

Kendall was pulled out of his rumination. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Carlos asked, still whispering.

Kendall looked weirdly at Carlos. "Sure, go ahead. And why are we whispering like middle school girls?"

Carlos pretended to scratch his neck and subtly moved his head toward Elie's direction.

"That's not a question, Carlos,' Kendall said.

And without warning, Carlos asked Elie from across the table, "Elie, are you dating anyone?"

Everybody stopped their babbling and looked at Elie.

"Wow, the questions turned personal fast," Elie said as she took the last bite of her burger. "But the answer is no."

Suddenly, somebody came over to their table. "Fuckers! What brings you all the way up here?"

"Hey, Dustin!" Carlos stood up and did the hand thing that boys do when they see each other. Everyone else followed suit.

"And oh, you didn't tell me we have a lovely lady with us," Dustin said when he noticed Elie walking towards him. "Hey, E!"

"Hey, D!" Elie said as she gave Dustin a hug.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Dustin asked as he took a seat between Kendall and James.

"Elie's dating history," Carlos replied.

"Ooh, interesting. Go on, go on."

Logan took a quick glance at Kendall and then asked, "So… Would you consider dating any of us?"

Elie took a sip of her drink and crossed her arms. She scanned the good-looking young men in front of her. "Hmm, let's see. James here, probably not."

"Hey!" James interjected.

"But you're prettier than I am, James! Can't be next to that face all the time," Elie said as she did the spirit fingers over James' face.

"This," James said as he too did the spirit fingers on his face, "has nothing to do with this." He pointed to his heart.

"I know, babe, but I'm being really superficial right now."

"Oh, alright," James said.

Dustin was next. "D-Belt? The bleached blonde hair's not doing anything for me, no offense."

"None taken," Dustin nodded at Elie and winked.

"Logan…" Elie looked at Logan and slowly shook her head no.

"Aw, come on!" Logan said in mock protest.

"Now it's on to Carlos. Hmm… Papi, you know I love ya, but we're almost the same height. What am I going to do with half of my shoes?" Elie was pretending to be a stuck up sorority girl obsessed with her shoes or something.

It was torture for Kendall. He knew his turn was up, and he knew that everyone's joking but as much as he's a bit terrified, he can't wait for what Elie has to say. And finally it really was Kendall's turn.

"As for Kendall," he heard Elie say. He smiled awkwardly at her. He took a deep breath. "He likes the same stuff that I do and we have a lot in common, but…"

Elie's phone suddenly started ringing just as she was about to say whether or not she would consider dating Kendall.

"Oops, sorry guys, I have to take this," Elie said as she stood up and walked out of the restaurant.

Kendall's ears were burning. All eyes on the table were on him as Elie went out to take the call.

"The waiter, Kendall. The waiter has made more moves on Elie in the last half hour that we've been here than you ever had in the last two-and-a-half weeks," Logan said in disgust.

"What do you want me to do, man? It's not that easy!" Kendall said, defending himself.

"Man up! The first thing you have to do is to be fucking honest with yourself for just one second," James said. "It's getting really annoying having to hear you say 'Oh, it's nothing, not in love, not at all, everything's okay' and all that shit."

"And don't think we don't notice the way you look at her, or at least the back of her head," Dustin said, laughing.

"See, even Dustin notices, and he's usually so inept," Logan added.

"Who's inept?" Elie asked, nobody even noticed that she had entered the restaurant and was now standing behind Dustin. Kendall was startled. How much did Elie hear?

"Dustin. Dustin's very inept," Carlos quickly replied. "There's a girl he really, really likes yet he's not doing anything about it."

Dustin stared at Carlos before he slowly realized what was going on. He nodded and said, "Yes, inept. I am very inept."

"Who's the lucky girl? Which one? From the crew? How's she like?" Elie rattled off questions to Dustin as she went back to her seat.

"Uh… She's… Kendall, help me out here," Dustin said as he patted Kendall on the back. Elie then looked at Kendall. "So...?"

It finally dawned on him what his friends were doing. He cleared his throat, "This girl, she's… she's the coolest, most awesome girl." Kendall's heart felt as though it was lodged in his throat. _Am I really doing this?_ Yes, he was. So he went on, "He's never met anyone like her before. He thinks this one's pretty special."

"Awww that's so sweet! But why aren't you doing anything? If she's so special, Dustin, why haven't you asked her out yet? I mean does she even know that you like her? Does she even like you, even for a bit?"

"I think so. I mean we're good friends. I haven't known her for a long time, sure, but we're really tight. At least I like to think so," Dustin replied, quickly glancing at Kendall, and then added, "We already had dinner together one time."

"Really, when?" Elie inquired.

"We, uh… it was…" Dustin started but James cut him off.

"It doesn't really matter but the point is, this man here is just letting things go to waste. He's not doing anything. He's just sitting there!" James pointed to Kendall and Dustin's direction.

"Whoa, James. You're really up in arms about this," Elie replied, astonished at how James was reacting. "Maybe Dustin's just gathering his momentum."

"Some kind of slow, if you ask me," Logan retorted.

"Hey, give the guy a break. Maybe Dustin's falling in love and this is all new to him and he doesn't know what to do or how to proceed. You guys should just help him out," Elie suggested.

"Fuck, yes!" Kendall said loudly.

"See, Kendall agrees with me. Amen, brother," Elie said. Carlos snorted, James choked on his drink and started a coughing fit, and both Logan and Dustin started laughing. Only Kendall and Elie were not having some sort of reaction to what Elie said.

"You guys are weird. Why do I even put up with you?" Elie said in jest when all the coughing, laughing, and snorting have died down. "So, uh, Dustin, how long have you liked this girl?"

"We think he loves her," Carlos said.

"You – we don't know that," Kendall quickly said.

"I don't know Kendall, what do you think?" Dustin said, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"I really have no idea," he replied truthfully, looking Elie in the eyes.

"Maybe he does. She's beautiful, smart, sincere, all those things," Logan offered.

"She sounds awesome. When can we meet her?" Elie asked.

"Oh, look at the time!" Dustin changed the subject because the more questions Elie asks, the greater the possibility that he won't know the answers anymore. "Catch you all later, gotta go." And he got out of Hole in the Wall just as fast as he came.

"He sure doesn't want to talk about it," Elie commented. "But God bless him, maybe he's just scared."

"Yes, but he should move his ass soon or somebody else will get her," Carlos said.

"If it'll happen, it'll happen," Elie countered, "although he shouldn't just leave everything to chance. He should at least ask her out again."

"Listen to the woman!" James boomed, head turned towards Kendall.

"Anyway, shouldn't we be going now?" Elie asked.

"Alright guys, let's go," Carlos said as they all scampered out of the restaurant.

They all drove back to Paramount where their cars were. After saying their goodbyes, James, Logan, and Carlos drove off. The last ones on the lot where Kendall and Elie.

"That was fun," Kendall smiled at Elie.

Elie smiled back. "Yeah, it was. We should all do that again."

An awkward silence followed, and then Kendall asked Elie, "Are you heading home now?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I have some stuff to finish… for class," Elie replied.

"Class? What class?" Kendall asked again.

"Graphic design class. It's just an online thing to keep me preoccupied while I figure myself out," Elie shrugged. And then it was quiet again. _Why is this so awkward all of a sudden?_

Kendall looked like he was about to say something but stopped himself. They were both just standing there for a few uncomfortable, quiet seconds.

"I'll be going now. I'll see you Monday?" Elie finally said.

"Yeah. Okay, okay. Drive safely," Kendall replied. And then they just stood there, not knowing whether to hug or shake hands or just wave at each other. Elie just turned around and started walking to her car.

Kendall turned around to go to his car. _Man up, man up, man up, _he thought to himself.

"Elie!" he shouted.

Elie turned around to face Kendall, who was a few yards away now. "Yep?"

"You wanna, I don't know, hang out tomorrow?" Kendall asked, unsure of the answer to his question.

**I'm sorry this is such a long, drawn-out chapter. I might not have as much time to update so I gave you guys a super long one **

**Thank you to the lovely people who gave reviews. Very encouraging to me, so thank you! **

**Please don't be frustrated with Kendall as much. He'll get his head on straight pretty soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

Elie slept late that night and woke up too darn early. Between thinking about homework projects and Kendall, she had a lot on her mind. All sorts of thoughts were running through her head. _What is the matter with you, E? You two are just going to hang out, like friends do. Don't you have friends? Stop it. Stop. No. Stop. What are you stressing about?_

Kendall was going to pick her up and they're going to have lunch. So far that's the plan. Maybe they'll shop or catch a movie or visit the zoo or whatever. Nothing's set in stone but lunch. Her phone beeped. It was a text from Kendall.

_Good morning! See you later _

"Kendall, what are you doing up at 6:00 AM on a Saturday?" Elie muttered under her breath. She was about to type a reply when she stopped herself. She thought aloud, "Will it look too eager if I text back right now?" She thought aloud as she jumped out of bed. "Who cares? Friends text all the time!" She was arguing with herself.

_Good morning back at ya!_ was her reply to Kendall.

She wrinkled her nose and slapped her forehead in disgust. "Bitch ass motherfucker," she mumbled.Then her phone rang. It was Kendall.

"Hey," her voice caught in her throat and what came out was a squeak. She cleared her throat. "Hey you," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

"You're up early," Kendall said.

"I'm always up early. Always," Elie said as she walked in front of her bathroom mirror. She saw that she was smiling, a silly smile at that. She quickly frowned to counter the silly smiling.

"What you up to?" Kendall asked.

"Not much really, just jumped out of bed. I have plenty of time until you get here for our lunch da—" She was about to say 'date' but stopped herself. "—hangout. Lunch hangout." _WTF Elie?_ She could hear Kendall chuckle on the other line. "What's so funny, young man?"

"Nothing," Kendall chuckled. "Since you're up, you think we could start the day earlier than scheduled?"

"Say what?" Elie's eyes widened. Seriously, this boy is giving her problems. She hasn't even picked out what to wear yet. She thought she had 6 full hours to decide. Now apparently she has an hour to shower and choose an outfit and do her makeup and all that stuff.

"Well, you're up, we could have breakfast, and then figure out what to do the rest of the day. You're free, I'm free. I guess I could drive over there. I'll change and then drive straight to your apartment. That'll probably take an hour, tops." Kendall was just babbling and rattling options to Elie.

"Uh… where are you right now?" Elie asked.

"I live in Burbank. Burbank to Anaheim normally takes around 45 minutes, but since it's a Saturday, traffic will be pretty light," Kendall said.

"Okay, okay, okay. Okay. Alright. See you in an hour, I guess. You still know how to get here?"

"Yes. So I'll see you. Bye," Kendall said as he hung up. Now it's time for Elie to start panicking.

Meanwhile in Burbank, Kendall was about to pass out from the nervousness. _Breathe, Kendall, breathe. This is not the first girl you're taking out on a date and you're not in middle school anymore. Wait, does Elie know this is a date? Nevermind, now go get dressed. _

Like Elie, he slept late and woke up too early. The amazing thing was, he wasn't feeling groggy or sleepy or anything. He hasn't woken up this early on a free day without shoots, recordings, or flights. He was feeling pretty good, and that's why he decided to send Elie a good-morning text to sort of remind her of their… date. Ah yes, this was a date, but Elie doesn't know it yet.

Kendall went up to his bedroom to get dressed so he could pick up Elie in an hour. What to wear on a leisurely non-date date? He surveyed his closet. _I wonder what she'd wear? Whatever she wears, she'll still be awesome._

Before he knew it, five minutes have passed and he has been daydreaming that whole time. "Oh shit, I really better get dressed," he told himself. He grabbed an Obey _Dia de los Muertos_ shirt, a pair of jeans, and his trusty vans. On the way out of the house, he came across his mother who was just starting to make breakfast.

"Mom, I'm going out for breakfast!" he said as he grabbed his keys and was about to exit through the back door when his mom stopped him.

"Wait right there, young man," his mom said.

"Mom, I'm going to be late," Kendall stressed.

"It's 6:30 in the morning and you're dressed and ready to go. Where are you going?" his mom asked.

"Anaheim," Kendall replied.

"That's 45 minutes away, son. Who's in Anaheim?" his mom asked again. Kendall felt like he was being interrogated.

"A girl he likes," came the reply from Kevin, who was just entering the kitchen and then sat on the counter.

"What girl?" asked his mom. Boy, Kathy Schmidt sure had a lot of questions today. Kendall was about to answer when his brother cut him off.

"Her name's Elie and she works on the show too."

"Would you just let me answer?" Kendall retorted at his brother. He turned his attention back to his mother. "What Kevin said. And mom, please, I'm running late and getting hungry too. Can I go now?"

"Do you really like this girl?" Kathy asked Kendall.

"Yes, very much." Kendall felt good finally admitting it to himself and to his mom. " I'll tell you all about her later, I promise."

"Okay, but drive safely," Kathy said as he gave her son a hug. And off Kendall went.

Back in Anaheim, Elie was staring at her closet. Kendall will be there in about 20 minutes and she's still in her robe. _Why must this be so difficult? It's just breakfast. Yeah, breakfast with Kendall, your really awesome friend. Awesome, good-looking, quite adorable friend. Whom you like. No, you don't like him like that. Or do you?_

"Do I?" Elie asked her said, aloud this time. "No. Must not. Can not."

She started pacing. "Okay, Elie, just so we're clear, Kendall is your friend. He's too young for you. Please just enjoy this date. NOOOOOOOO THIS IS NOT A DATE!"

She was losing her mind for just a bit. She continued her monologue: "Calm down, calm down, calm down. No big deal. Go get dressed."

In the spirit of going out with "just a good friend" for breakfast, she decided on an oversized grey hoodie that's long enough to be a dress, pulled a pair of leggings on since she tends to be chilly in the morning,and slipped on her trusty Vans. She then curled her lashes, swiped some tinted lip balm, and debated whether to tie her hair up or let it down.

Her phone rang, and it was Kendall.

"Hey, I'm across the street from your apartment!" Kendall cheerfully said.

"You're five minutes early," Elie said.

"Traffic was really good. So should I come up or will you meet me here?"

"Wait for me in the car. I'll be down in a bit," Elie said as she hung up and proceeded to get her bag and her keys. She took one last look at herself in the mirror.

_At least I look alive, thank goodness._

Kendall was trying not to look at the front door of Elie's apartment complex. He got more nervous as the seconds rolled by and he was drumming his fingers on the dashboard, the steering wheel, his lap, anything he could drum his fingers on. He was attempting to do some breathing exercises because he thought he was getting dizzy from the anxiousness when he heard a knock on the passenger side window. It was Elie, waving, smiling.

He let Elie in and watched as she took her seat and put on her seatbelt. Elie then faced Kendall, still a bit breathless from running across the street to Kendall's car, cheeks pink from the unusually crisp morning air. Kendall couldn't wait but smile.

"Good morning, green eyes. They look extra bright today. Had a great night's sleep?" Elie asked. Elie thought Kendall looked so … perfect.

"I did, actually," Kendall replied. "But now I'm hungry. So where do you suggest we go?" Kendall asked, looking straight at Elie's eyes. Elie would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit flustered. She quickly averted her eyes.

"There's, uh, there's a Denny's right there but uh… Oh wait, let me google something," Elie said as she fished for her phone in her bag.

_How are you so pretty so early in the morning? In a hoodie. And Vans, man. _Kendall sighed.

"What, you don't like it?" Elie asked.

"Don't like what?" Kendall asked back.

"I was telling you about this breakfast place around 10 minutes away. I haven't tried it there yet, but my neighbors seem to talk about it all the time. We could try another place. Hmm…" Elie took her attention back to her phone to search for other breakfast places.

Kendall put her hand over Elie's phone. "That one's fine. So where to?"

"You take a U-turn here and then we drive straight until we reach, what was that street? East Lincoln. It's a pretty boring drive," Elie replied.

The drive was pretty much uneventful, except for the stolen glances Elie and Kendall gave each other. Elie was getting embarrassed with the attention Kendall was giving her, and she was starting to get confused. But she just thought, _Hey, fuck it. Just enjoy this day._

Kendall was enjoying the drive. He was loving this time with Elie, even if it was so early on a Saturday morning. It was a really beautiful morning, if he can say so himself.

They finally saw the sign for the breakfast place they wanted to go to and drove to the parking lot. There were only 4 tables taken since the restaurant just opened and it really was only past 7 in the morning. They got themselves a booth and sat across one another, phones on the table.

"This place smells goooooooood" Elie said, surveying the menu with wide eyes.

"So what will you have?" Kendall said, earnestly looking at Elie.

"I don't know, I want everything! How about you, which one do you want?" asked Elie, still amazed at the offerings on the menu.

"I think I know what I want," Kendall said, looking down and smiling to himself as he flipped through the menu, adorable dimples showing through.

"What are you smiling about, poke-face?" Elie asked, herself trying not to smile.

"Nothing," Kendall replied, smiling at Elie.

"Awwww look at you two lovebirds looking so in love!" gushed the waitress. Elie started shaking her head but Kendall just smiled at her.

"I think we're ready to order now," Kendall said. "I'll have the pecan waffles and the lady will have…"

"Banana pancakes. And coffee. And two eggs, sunny side up," Elie looks like she was about to order half the items on the menu. The waitress then left to go get their orders.

"Someone's hungry," Kendall quipped.

"Don't be obnoxious. We can share," Elie replied. "So what's the plan today?"

"I don't know, it's up to you really. We can shop, catch a movie, eat somewhere for lunch, coffee, hang out, whatever you want," Kendall replied.

"Wow. It feels like my birthday, only it's not my birthday," Elie said.

"Well, we can pretend it is, then we'll have lots of fun," Kendall smiled. He just really wanted to make this day a great one for them both.

Their food arrived and they heartily ate. They shared their food with each other, sort of like what old couples do. In the middle of breakfast, the waitress came with a plate of strawberry crepes.

"Here you go, lovebirds," she said as she set the plate down between Kendall and Elie.

"I'm sorry, but we didn't order -" Kendall started.

"Aww sweetie, that's alright. That's on the house. You remind me of my late husband and myself when we were younger. You two look so cute together," said the waitress, winking at Kendall and smiling at Elie.

Kendall was blushing, a combination of not knowing what to say and being embarrassed because Elie was right in front of him, hearing the same thing.

"Thank you, Alice," Elie said, smiling back at the waitress.

After the waitress left, Kendall just looked at Elie who was by then digging into the crepes, getting whipped cream on her face. Kendall instinctively reached over and removed the cream from the side of her mouth with his thumb. Startled, Elie looked at Kendall. They were looking at each other for a good 2 seconds.

"You – you had whipped cream on your face," Kendall stammered.

"Thanks," Elie said, almost a whisper. "Here, have some."

For some reason they couldn't look at one another the entire meal. They were talking, alright, but they were avoiding each other's eyes. There was a bit of an argument when it came to paying the bill because Kendall secretly tried to pay the bill under the guise of going to the restroom, but Elie saw him and ran to the cashier and tried to pay at least her part of the bill.

"But I ate too much and you drove all the way here!" Elie argued.

Kendall paid their bill anyway, and as they walked back to the car, Elie told Kendall, "Let me pay for lunch."

But Kendall was not having it. "No, I will take YOU out for lunch young lady." He was enjoying this type of banter. Elie was getting worked up from trying to argue Kendall out of paying for any more stuff for her. As they were about to enter the car, Elie asked a question.

"Kendall, are we on a date?"

Caught unaware by that question, Kendall opened his car door with great difficulty. It was as though he had forgotten how car doors worked. He knew Elie was waiting for an answer.

"Yes," he said, trying to look and sound confident. "So you just enjoy this, okay?"

Elie was silent.

"No biggie. Friends go on dates, right?" Elie finally said. "So where are you taking me for lunch?"

"I know just the place," Kendall replied, trying to shake the "friends go on dates" comment. "It's still too early for lunch though, and we only had breakfast. Where do you want to go next?"

"Can we go home first before going anywhere? I need to change. I smell like breakfast," Elie laughed.

"Your wish is my command," Kendall said as he started the car.

_**I hope to be able to write and update as soon as I can. There'll be a bit more drama in the upcoming chapters, so I hope you like that sort of stuff. Thank you again, wonderful people! **___


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Kendall didn't know what to expect and was a bit nervous while in the elevator to Elie's apartment. _What are you so nervous about, pervert? _

"Here we are," Elie said as the elevator doors opened. They walked the entire length of the hallway before reaching the apartment at the end. "This is me," Elie said, turning the keys.

It was a one-bedroom apartment – nice, bright, airy. It was actually really smartly appointed and very, very neat.

"Are you a neat freak or something? Because this apartment is scary-spotless," Kendall commented. He was starting to worry about his own messiness and how it could smash his hopes of ever ending up with Elie. Elie just laughed at his comment.

"Nah, you just arrived at a really good time. But I am neat, just not to freakish levels," she said. "Anyway, I wouldn't take long. Just make yourself comfortable. The fridge is over there, the TV is there, and just, you know, chill. Give me a half hour and we could get going." And with that, Elie disappeared in her bedroom.

Kendall sat on the couch and turned the TV on. A few seconds later, Elie emerged from her bedroom clad in a robe, passed in front of Kendall, and went straight to the bathroom on the other side of the apartment. "I'm not going to take very long," she told Kendall as she walked past him.

Kendall tried to play it off and not think too much about it. He continued to flip channels. _Elie's in the shower. Naked. Stop it, Kendall. Stop. Oh no, no, no. Down, boy. Not now. _He tried to distract himself further by watching a Nat Geo feature on rare okapis in Africa. He tried crossing and uncrossing his legs and taking deep breaths.

"Behave yourself!" he said as he swatted his hard on. He heard the bathroom door open, and he grabbed the nearest pillow he can reach. He smiled at Elie as she came nearer.

"See, it didn't take that long," she said as she walked past Kendall again. As she closed the door to her bedroom to get ready, Kendall caught a whiff of Elie's freshly-showered scent, a combination of fresh sea breeze and some sort of fruit. Whatever it was, it made Kendall's situation worse. _Unbelievable,_ he thought.

He looked at Elie's bedroom door to check if it's really closed. He then sprinted to the bathroom door to relieve himself as fast as he can, before Elie notices he's been in the bathroom so long and figures out what he's been doing.

The bathroom, not surprisingly, smelled like Elie times a thousand. Kendall quickly unzipped his jeans and took out his very angry hard on and wrapped his arms around it. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the Elie-scented air, and started stroking. It didn't take long before he finished his business and he smiled to himself as though he accomplished something significant. He cleaned up his mess, took a look at himself in the mirror to check if he looked funny or sick, and then went back to the couch to wait for Elie to finish getting ready.

Elie stepped out of the room wearing jeans, a slouchy striped long-sleeved top, and the same Vans flats. It was pretty non-descript, but Kendall thought Elie never looked better.

"Nice top, where'd you get it?" Kendall asked.

Elie looked down at what she was wearing, trying to remember where she got her top. "I dunno. Adidas, maybe?" She tried reaching for the tag at the back of her shirt. "Here can you see the tag?"

Kendall went nearer to see what the tag read, and managed to see the inside of Elie's shirt. He was so glad he jacked off earlier or he would have embarrassed himself. "Yep, that's Adidas."

"Alright, then. Let's go?" Elie said as she put her things in her bag. "Can we go to GardenWalk first before we head to wherever the road takes us?"

"Anywhere you want," Kendall said as he smiled sweetly at Elie.

It was inevitable that Kendall would get recognized in Anaheim. He was, of course, famous and everyone from little girls to mothers either did a double-take or called out to him. Kendall was gracious to all of them and greeted them with a smile and a wave. There were a few who requested pictures and Elie was only too happy to take pictures for them. Some of the teenage girls were giving Elie the once-over and looked at her with disgust on their young faces. Oh, children.

Elie was careful not to be too touchy-feely with Kendall, and she did the best she can to be quick with her shopping errands. She was grateful that Kendall did not seem whiny while she mulled about which item to purchase from the stores she went to. She could tell when Kendall was starting to get bored because he would hover and start playing with _her_ hair. She took it as a sign that she had to decide fast.

Finally done, Kendall and Elie started driving to Kendall only knows where.

"So where are we going?" Elie asked.

"Well, it's still too early for lunch but we could go hang out near the place to kill time," Kendall replied.

"But where is this place you're not telling me?" Elie asked again, trying to get some more information from him.

"Not telling you," Kendall said, smiling. "This is a kidnapping."

"Oh, I see," Elie nodded as she looked at the signs on the freeway. "I can tell we're going to LA."

"We might be," Kendall teased.

"Come on. What kind of date doesn't tell his date where they're going for a date? That's rude."

"How's that rude?"

"I might be overdressed or underdressed, or wearing the wrong shoes for example."

Kendall looked at Elie and said, "No, you're perfect."

That made Elie smile a little to herself. "This mysterious thing is not going to be mysterious for long, Kendall," Elie looked out the window, trying to hide her smile from Kendall.

"I know, I know. But trust me, you're gonna like it there. There's a bookstore near where we're going," Kendall said, trying to change the subject for a bit so Elie would stop asking questions. He cranked up the sound on his iPod and they listened to Incubus and Death Cab, even sang along to some. It was the first time Kendall heard Elie sing. She had a great voice and he didn't even know about it. Elie never gave any inkling that she can sing. There's so much to know about this girl and Kendall was determined to know everything.

They finally arrived at their pre-lunch destination, and they both headed straight to the bookstore as Kendall promised Elie. Elie spent a good hour at the bookstore just browsing through the books, reading, staring at the titles, and even smelling some of them. Elie told Kendall he could just come back for her if he had any other stuff to do, but Kendall stayed with her, watching her. He did wander off other aisles from time to time, but only to end up watching Elie from afar as she seemed so absorbed in the books she was scanning through.

At the end of the hour, Elie had about 5 books in her arms that she planned on buying. Kendall wanted to pay for Elie's books but Elie will have none of it. At least Elie agreed to let Kendall carry her books for her. It was time for lunch.

"I'm gonna ask again, hoping to get a decent reply: Where are we going for lunch?" Elie said to Kendall.

"About 5 minutes from here. You'll know soon enough," Kendall said with a wink.

"Can't I get a clue?" Elie asked.

"It's my favorite lunch place," he simply said.

A few minutes later, they pulled up at a driveway with a couple other cars there already. Kendall called for Elie to follow him, and they passed through the back of the house. Elie walked faster to catch up with Kendall and grabbed his arm before he could open the sliding door which led to the house.

"Kendall, whose house is this?" Elie asked.

"Mine," came the reply.

"We're in Burbank?!" Elie said in a voice much louder than usual.

Kendall actually became more nervous as they drove nearer and nearer to his house. He prayed that Elie won't kill him when she finds out. While Elie was doing her shopping errands at Anaheim, Kendall stepped out and called home to tell them that they were going to have lunch in the house. Kendall's mom told them they'll wait for them. Kendall couldn't tell Elie because Elie might get mad at him.

Kendall just smiled at Elie, hoping for the best.

"Okay then," Elie said, shrugging her shoulders. "At least I'm not underdressed."

Kendall entered the house, followed by Elie. He called out for his mom, who was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on what looked like Cobb salad.

"Oh hi, you're here" Mrs. Schmidt said as she gave Kendall a kiss. She noticed Elie standing a few feet behind Kendall. "Hello there, young lady! Kendall, why don't you introduce us to your guest?"

Kendall went behind Elie and put his hands on her shoulders. "Mom, this is my friend Elie."

Elie smiled. "Hello, Mrs. Schmidt."

"Oh, call me Kathy," Mrs. Schmidt said as she gave Elie a hug.

"I'll try, but I'm not used to calling my friends' parents by their first names," Elie said.

"Or you can call her mom," said a voice that suddenly came out of nowhere. It was Kevin.

Kendall glared at his brother.

"Kevin, this is Kendall's friend Elie," Mrs. Schmidt told Kevin.

"Hey there," said Kevin, as he extended a handshake.

"It's just gonna be us 3 as your dad and Kenneth have somewhere to go to. Elie, Kenneth is Kendall and Kevin's brother," Mrs. Schmidt informed Elie.

"I figured, with all the K's in there," Elie replied.

They all sat down for lunch that was prepared with much love by Mrs. Schmidt. It was a casual lunch by the pool. The conversation topics were of the general and random nature. But when dessert came, it was a different story. Being the new person in that group, most of the questions were directed at Elie.

"So Elie, we never asked, where are you from? Are you an LA native?" asked Mrs. Schmidt.

Elie shook her head. "Actually, no, I'm not. I moved here over a year ago. I'm from San Francisco."

"Lovely place," Mrs. Schmidt said.

"Yes, very lovely. I miss it sometimes, but I do get to go home from time to time," said Elie.

"So why'd you move to LA?" Kevin asked.

"Stuff," Elie replied with a shrug.

"Stuff like what?" Kevin pressed on.

Elie looked up as though to ponder what to say and sighed. "Long story. Too long. I'll tell it another time," she said, smiling at Kevin.

"No, but like, are you hiding from the law or something?" Kevin insisted.

"Kevin, stop it!" Kendall and Kathy hissed. They were horrified at what Kevin was asking, and both were relieved when Elie laughed at his question.

"I wish I moved to LA for interesting reasons like that. Nothing of that sort though. Sorry to disappoint you. But if I'll ever commit a crime and have to move out-of-state to evade justice, I'll tell you all about it."

"So, Elie, what do you do aside from working at the studio?" Kathy asked, hoping to divert the topic to something much less crime-related.

"I take some design classes online from an art university in SF. That's actually where a big chunk of my time goes. It's really cool because it somehow feels like being in class too. The amount of schoolwork is overwhelming sometimes, but I love it. Then I help with a home care center in Orange County. A family friend owns it and they were a great help to me when I first moved here. I'm just returning their kindness. And besides it's all just simple tasks, so no biggie," Elie replied.

"And what about your family, are they all still in San Francisco?" Kathy asked.

Elie paused for a bit before answering the question. "Ummm, yeah. My parents and my older brother are there," she said, looking down to avoid looking at anyone's eyes. "May I use the bathroom?"

"Sure, sweetie. When you enter the door, it's straight down the hall and to your right," Kathy said.

Elie stood up and hurried to the bathroom.

Kendall thought it was strange how Elie almost had great difficulty in answering his mom's question about her family. He stood up and followed Elie to the bathroom.

Elie walked fast to the bathroom and closed the door as fast as she could. She never expected to get asked about her family, but then she never expected that she would be lunching with Kendall's mother and brother today. Tears stung her eyes as she sat at the edge of the bathtub. She was trying to calm herself down, but her thoughts made her cry. _My parents and brother are in San Francisco, yes. They're all buried there. I visit them every once in a while. I visit them when I miss them, and I miss them all the time but I had to get away from San Francisco because it's still too painful to be there._

Knock, knock.

"Elie, are you all right?" Kendall asked from the other side of the door.

Elie wiped the tears from her eyes and called out to Kendall, "Yeah, I'm great. It was just really hot outside and I thought I'll cool down a bit."

"Okay. I'll wait for you out here," Kendall offered.

"No, go back outside. I'm fine. I'll be out in a bit," Elie said. Elie listened for the sound of Kendall's footsteps to fade away before she let out a sigh. She looked at herself in the mirror. Good thing she was wearing waterproof mascara today and not much else, so there's not a lot to clean up. She splashed cold water on her face, dried it with a hand towel, and tried to conceal the redness on her nose with a bit of powder. When she thought she looked okay, she stepped out and re-joined the Schmidt family by the pool.

Kendall was looking at her with a tiny bit of concern. He had a feeling she wasn't really well earlier.

"Oh hey dear, what took you so long?" Kathy asked, putting a hand on Elie's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Schmidt. I decided to retouch my makeup and then I got lost. Your house is huge!" Elie replied. She met Kendall's eyes across the table from her. She smiled at Kendall.

"Anyway, Kevin, help me clear these dishes up," Kathy said to Kevin.

Kevin groaned but did what his mother said anyway. Elie started helping with the dishes but Kathy shooed them away. "Kevin and I will handle this. You and Kendall just enjoy the day, go sit in the den or something," Kathy said.

Kendall and Elie did just as they're told and went inside to the den.

"Your mom's so nice, Kibs. And you look like her," Elie said as she sat down on the couch. "Wow, this is hella comfy."

"You really think so?" Kendall asked, sitting beside Elie and turning the TV on.

"Yeah, I mean I could just doze off. This is so soft," Elie replied. She noticed the look of confusion on Kendall's face. "Oh, you meant if I really thought you looked like your mom!" They both laughed.

"But seriously, I'm kinda getting sleepy just sitting here," Elie said, her eyes getting heavy.

"Sometimes I just put the TV on and watch it till I fall asleep," Kendall said, leaning his head on the couch. "And sometimes there are programs that are just so good that even if my eyes were closing by themselves I try to stay up. You know those kinds of shows?"

Kendall looked at Elie, who has her eyes closed and head hanging. He gently guided her head so it rests on his shoulders. Elie was out like a light, her hair tumbling onto Kendall's shoulders. Kendall just looked at her like that and he could never have imagined feeling so peaceful. He smiled.

He was still smiling when his mom came to the den a few minutes later and saw them like that. She let out a quiet "Awww," because she was so touched by what she sees. "Oh, Kendall," she whispered to her son.

Kendall leaned his head so his and Elie's heads were touching and said to his mother, "I'm so happy, mom."

Kathy smiled at his son and softly went out of the den, closing the door behind her. She got a bit teary with what just transpired. Her baby was all grown up and in love.

_**Ah, I don't know. Y'all are really kind, so that's why I've been writing really long chapters. I hope this makes up for my once-a-week updating. I write the next chapters as soon as I finish with one but that's the thing, chapters take so long to finish. In my head, I'm in other parts of the story. I still hope you like it. I'm quite surprised that people do like it actually. Thanks again! **___


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

It was over 2 hours ago that Elie fell asleep on Kendall's shoulder. She was a little disoriented when she woke up because she couldn't remember where she was. She looked over beside her and saw Kendall was fast asleep, his arm around her, and then she suddenly remembered everything.

She looked at Kendall again, mouth slightly open, his face peaceful from slumber, illuminated by the soft glow of the television which was still on. Elie didn't know what to make of this situation that they are in, if you could call it a situation. Kendall did say that this was a date, but wasn't really clear about why they're doing this, or if this means something more. Looking at the boy peacefully sleeping beside her on that comfortable couch, she thought about her feelings for the first time, something that she has kept hidden and blatantly ignoring ever since she and Kendall became friends.

Elie didn't want to think about feelings. She specifically moved to LA to avoid them, that's why she has been sweeping her feelings for Kendall under the rug. When she met Kendall, she had a sense that he'll play a role in his life – she wasn't quite sure what – but it was something that has been on her mind since that day. He's a very attractive guy, sure, but she thinks she's too old for these so-called feelings and she's too old for Kendall. As long as she can keep it to herself and act like everything's normal, she'd be fine. But now, staring at this young man's face, alone in a room with him, she thought it wouldn't hurt to be honest for a few minutes.

_He's beautiful, _Elie thought. _I've never been this close to anyone in a long time._ Kendall stirred and shifted in his sleep.

"You know, Kendall," she uttered under her breath; "I really, really like you. I like you a lot." She continued in her thoughts, _But you have the whole world and your whole life ahead of you and you don't need to be burdened by my emotional baggage. And to be honest, I'm scared of feelings, any kind._

To her surprise, Kendall opened his eyes and was now looking intently at her. Well, he heard. There's no denying now.

"Shit," Elie said, covering her face. She can feel Kendall's arms wrapping around her. She peeked out from her hands and saw Kendall smiling at her, still not saying anything.

"Say something," Elie said from under her hands.

"I… probably like you more," Kendall finally said. Elie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She feared that he did. She half-wanted for Kendall to tell her he did not feel anything about her. Only half though, because the other half was happy that he felt more or less the same way. It's safe to say she doesn't know what to feel at the moment. She didn't mean for Kendall to hear. She just really wanted to get it out of her system so she can start ignoring her feelings again. Elie being in this position (literally and otherwise) and seeing how Kendall was looking at her made her dizzy.

Elie was still in Kendall's arms. It felt really nice, something she hasn't felt in a long time.

"Elie?" Kendall said.

"Yes?" Elie said in a voice, muffled by her hands.

Kendall let go of Elie, gently removed Elie's hands from her face and took it in his.

"Kendall, about what I said," Elie started, but she didn't know what to say next. She sighed out of frustration.

"We don't need to be anything, Elie. There's no rush. I mean I'm not assuming that you would… I…" Kendall was babbling now. Elie found it cute.

The door to the den suddenly opened.

"Oh good, you're awake. Come to the kitchen, dad and Kenneth brought food," Kevin said and left.

"I guess we should go out there," Elie said.

"Yeah, I guess we should," Kendall said.

They both stood up and headed for the door.

"E, I uh…" Kendall started.

"Maybe we can talk about it later, when you drive me back to Anaheim," Elie assured Kendall.

In the kitchen, Kendall's parents and brothers were all there. Kendall introduced Elie to his dad and oldest brother. Kendall mentioned something about Kenneth studying Mandarin and much to everyone's surprise, Elie started talking to Kenneth in Mandarin. It went on for a good couple of minutes.

"Hey, we're starting to feel left out!" Kendall mock-protested.

"Oh I'm sorry," Elie laughed. "I haven't talked to anyone in Mandarin in a long while."

"How did you learn Mandarin?" asked Kent, their dad.

"I love languages, I'm from San Francisco, hung out Chinatown a lot, that sort of thing," Elie replied.

"So you speak any other languages?" Kevin asked.

"Apart from English and Chinese, I do speak Spanish, German, and Icelandic. I think I'm rusty in a couple of those, but I can watch movies and read books in those languages. And, uh, I could probably carry on a conversation in Russian, but I'm gonna miss a few words here and there," Elie said.

"Aww, no French or Italian?" Kathy asked.

"I'm honestly scared of French," Elie said.

"But it's the language of looooooove," Kevin teased, elbowing Kendall. Kendall elbowed him back.

"It's really difficult though, at least I think it is," Elie said.

"More difficult than Russian or Mandarin?" Kenneth asked.

"I think it's because I have a fear of it. I mean I pick up words here and there, and honestly I'm starting to understand it the more I listen to it, but I'm a wuss to start conversation or even attempt to pronounce words," said Elie. "But I just really like languages and I take to them easily."

"What a wonderful young woman," Kathy said.

"Not very young," Elie smiled.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Kathy asked.

"I'm older than your children, Mrs. Schmidt," Elie said.

"Well, you don't look it," Kathy said. "So what made you want to be a production assistant?"

Elie shrugged. "I needed a change, I guess. Being cooped up in an office has its perks, but I wanted to be out in the sun, running around..."

"Doing errands for other people," Kevin interjected.

"Well, you know" Elie simply said.

"So what were you doing before becoming a production assistant?" Kenneth asked.

Elie was thinking very carefully on how she'll answer the questions asked her. She didn't like it when people are up in her business, but she didn't want to be rude. This family had been so nice and kind to her. "When I first moved to LA, I volunteered at a family friend's home care centers. They have three or four scattered all over Los Angeles so I helped with deliveries, records, taking the kids to doctor's appointments, stuff like that."

"And then?" Kevin asked, biting into a red velvet cupcake that Kent and Kenneth brought. "Why did you leave that job?"

"I still volunteer about once a week though, or whenever they need me," Elie replied. "Like I said, I needed change. I get antsy when I keep doing something for a long time."

"She doesn't want doing things for a long time," whispered Kevin to Kendall, hinting at the double entendre that Elie's statement had.

"Shut it!" Kendall whispered back at his brother.

"No, you shut it!" Kevin answered back. Pretty soon they were nudging and hitting each other right by the kitchen counter.

"What is the matter with you two?" Kathy asked his sons.

"Kevin was being annoying," Kendall said.

"You're acting like two 10-year-olds," Kenneth said. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Elie."

"Oh, no big deal. Kendall's like that on set anyway," Elie said. It made Kendall blush a little.

Suddenly, Kendall's phone rang. He went to the living room to answer it. The Schmidt family and Elie continued chatting about life in LA, where are good places to go, and traveling around the world. A few minutes later, they all heard Kendall stomping into the kitchen, face sour.

"I need to get to the studio do some reshoots," Kendall said, brows furrowed.

"Why? It's Saturday!" Kathy asked, worried.

"Some scenes got damaged or something, I don't even know. But I have to be in the studio in an hour," Kendall replied.

"What about Elie? Aren't you supposed to drive her home?" Kevin asked.

"Don't worry about me. I can always take a cab," Elie said.

"No, no. Maybe you can come with me the studio and then I'll drive you home after we tape the scenes. That's maybe like two sequences," Kendall said, pacing back and forth.

"Go get ready. Don't worry about me. I'll ride with you to Paramount if you want, and I can go home from there. I'll take a cab or catch the train or whatever," Elie assured Kendall.

"I'll go get my stuff ready," Kendall said, running upstairs to his room.

After about 15 minutes, Kendall and Elie said their goodbyes to the Schmidt family and were driving to Paramount. Kendall was still distressed.

"Why's your face like that? I thought you loved what you did," Elie asked, looking over at Kendall.

"I do. But I wanted to spend this day with you," Kendall replied.

"But we have spent the entire day together," Elie said. It was a little past 4:00 PM.

"I just really wanted to make this day great for you, you know," Kendall sighed.

Elie smiled. Not that she was happy at Kendall's frustration; it was nice to hear about what other people would do for you.

"I'll drive you home," Elie told Kendall.

"But…" Kendall trailed off, a little confused. Elie explained.

"After you're done with your scenes, I'll drive us both back to Anaheim, then you can drive yourself back to Burbank. Deal?"

"Wait for me in the car, or is there somewhere I can drop you off?"

"I'm here anyway, might as well work. They didn't contact me because they know I live farther than most. But if they need a hand, I'll work."

Kendall felt better knowing that Elie is gonna be there with him. They still haven't talked about what they started at the den back in Burbank, but he was in no rush. He's just happy they are where they are right now.

_**You guyssssss… Kathy tweeted a pic of Kendall with his grandma right around Thanksgiving and he was wearing the same Obey Dia de los Muertos shirt I made him wear in this story and I'm losing my mind. You understand, don't you? I just asdjklaassadajkalisala;; HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO Y'ALL! **___


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

What was supposed to be a couple of hours to reshoot some sequences turned into 5 hours, and by the time they finished, everyone was exhausted. As a result of this extra day, the director gave them all an extra day off so they'd all see each other on Wednesday instead of Monday. Nobody had eaten since they've gotten there and nobody wanted to order food because they all wanted the re-shoot to be over and done with. Needless to say, everybody was hungry.

But even in their hungry and cranky state, the boys did not fail to notice that Kendall and Elie drove to the studio together. It was easy enough to explain to the other crew members, and they really did not care. Kendall and Elie's status was of prime importance to Logan, Carlos, and James more than anyone else, but they were just so tired after the reshoots.

"Are we going to eat somewhere or should I just head home and grab something drive-thru or…" Carlos yawned.

"I'm just gonna head home," Logan said as he headed towards his car. "I'll see you guys whenever." He waved his hand without turning around to see who he was waving at.

"I'm going home as well. Bye guys," James said and then left.

"Sorry, Carlos. I have to drive Elie home," Kendall told Carlos.

"Yeah, why?" Carlos asked.

"Because she lives far from here and it's late,"

"No, I mean why are you together?"

"We're on a date, if you must know."

That made Carlos' eyes widen in disbelief. And then he laughed because it would seem that Kendall hasn't noticed Elie's absence from the parking lot. "Is Elie invisible now or what?"

That made Kendall look around him. Elie wasn't with him. "Fuck, where is she? You go ahead man, I'll go look for her. She must still be inside the studio."

Elie was dead tired. The crew was short-staffed, so she had to do the job of three people. She was running around doing errands the past 5 hours. She remembered she had to drive home in Kendall's car and she grew more tired. Maybe she should just get a cab. It's too much of a hassle for both of them if they had to drive to Anaheim together.

Kendall found her hanging the last of the costumes and was about to lock up.

"Oh, there you are. I thought I lost you for a bit," Kendall said relieved.

"I'm sorry, did I take too long?" Elie said, locking up. "As you can see, I was the only production assistant here."

"Nah, I was just worried. I thought you ran away or something," Kendall replied.

"Aww, but I really can't go anywhere without a car, and auto theft is not my thing," Elie joked. "Come, let's drive me home."

Elie started walking out of the studio when she felt Kendall's pinkie link with hers. That stopped her in her tracks, but she didn't unlink their pinkies. They walked that way for a few yards until Kendall started to intertwine his fingers with Elie's. She smiled and thought to herself, _This is so high school._

"Do you want to get something to eat? We haven't had dinner yet," Kendall asked Elie.

"Where could we go at this hour though?" Elie asked back. They were still holding hands. Finally, they reached Kendall's BMW, which Kendall opened remotely.

"Keys," Elie said. Kendall handed her the keys. They only separated when they had to go to opposite sides of the car. Elie sat in the driver's seat while Kendall rode shotgun. "Okay, let's drive you home."

"So where are we going to eat?" Kendall asked.

"I don't know. Or maybe you could eat at home in Burbank," Elie replied.

"But that's a couple of hours from now," Kendall said.

"Nope. I'm driving you to Burbank right now," Elie said.

"Elie, you were supposed to drive to Anaheim, and then I'll drive myself home," Kendall protested. "I should have taken the wheel."

"It's late, we're both tired, and Anaheim's a long way from here. I'm driving you home and I'll check in somewhere, go home tomorrow.

"Or you could stay at my place," Kendall suggested.

"Yeah, no," Elie said. "It's too much of a hassle and honestly, this will sound weird, but I kinda miss hotels. I could have a cab pick me up from your house and then bring me to a hotel somewhere. Don't worry about me," Elie assured Kendall.

Kendall shrugged and didn't say anything after that. He just continued to watch the cars outside. A few minutes later, Elie got off the freeway and was expecting Kendall to tell her where she should turn. She had been to Kendall's house only once, and that was this afternoon, but she was too tired to recall directions to his house.

"So where do I turn, Kendall?" Elie asked.

Kendall just looked at Elie and smiled slyly, and then he shook his head no.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Kendall Schmidt?" Elie asked again, voice rising. But Kendall just smiled.

Elie didn't know what Kendall was trying to do, but her patience was wearing thin. Cute guy or not, she just really wanted to sleep. It was nearly midnight and she was tired. However, she really was not in the mood to fight. So she kept driving, trying to look for familiar places where they could have passed earlier. Kendall still wasn't helping and looked somewhat amused at Elie getting lost.

Luckily, she remembered the corner from Kendall's house and made the turn, and then finally found the house. She pulled over, got out without a word, and started walking away. Kendall realized what was happening and started to unbuckle his seatbelt but in his panic, he messed up and couldn't quite get it right. He was calling out to Elie. "Elie! Wait!"

But Elie kept walking. Finally, Kendall was able to free himself and got out of his car. He ran after Elie, who was already a few yards away. "Elie! Where are you going?"

Elie stopped walking to face Kendall. "I just really want to sleep." She looked distressed.

"I'm sorry," Kendall said as he took Elie's hands. "I'm sorry."

Elie sighed. She was so tired.

"Come inside the house, please?" Kendall pleaded.

It was Elie's turn to shake her head no. "Can you just, I don't know, take me to a hotel, the nearest one, anything, I don't care. I'm not mad, I promise. I just… a bed is all I want."

"Alright, alright. There's one very near here. I'll drive you there," Kendall said as he pulled Elie in for a hug, and Elie just melted into it. They stood that way for over a minute, until Elie said, "You know, as comforting as this might be, a bed might be better."

They both started walking to the car hand in hand. Kendall drove Elie to the nearest hotel, a swanky boutique one that was smartly appointed. Elie checked in and Kendall went up with her to her room just to see that she got there safely. They said their goodbyes and Elie went in the door. She took a quick shower, washed her clothes so she could have clean clothes the next day, and plopped on to bed. She was so exhausted that she simply closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

Elie woke up eight hours later, feeling refreshed and well-rested. She could hear the sound of people swimming in the pool outside her window. She sat up, seeing her room properly for the first time since she checked in. _This is some swanky shit,_ she thought.

She went to the bathroom to shower, brush her teeth using the hotel freebies, and put some clothes on. She tried fixing her hair as best she could. She did not have a comb or hair brush with her, and her hair was sticking out in all directions. She fished her pockets for some stray hair elastics and luckily enough, she found one. She pulled all her hair in a bun and then went back to bed, turned the TV on, and perused the hotel breakfast menu. She was about to order room service when she heard a knock on the door.

"Housekeeping," said the voice on the other side of the door.

"You can come back later," she shouted at the door from her bed. The knocking continued. Elie got up and opened the door. "You can come ba-"

"Good morning." It was Kendall with what looked like a picnic basket in his hand. "I thought I'd bring you breakfast."

"Hiiii. Uh, you're up early," Elie said.

"No big deal really," said Kendall. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," Elie smiled. "What do you have in the basket?"

"Oh, just some odds and ends I brought from home," Kendall said as he set the basket down. He opened it and brought out a red-check blanket and spread it out on the floor. Elie sat down beside him on the blanket and Kendall then took out the contents of the picnic basket, describing them one by one for Elie.

"Here we have orange juice, because we need to start our morning right. Organic, of course. Next, you may recognize these red velvet cupcakes from yesterday afternoon. And I brought you coffee for a change. I hope I got your drink right. I also brought a couple of plates…"

Elie was touched by Kendall's gesture. While Kendall was sifting through the basket to take some of the stuff out, Elie gently held his face and kissed him on the cheek. It was a chaste affair, one that made Kendall blush because of the unexpectedness of it and the fact that it was Elie who kissed him.

"Thank you," Elie said as she smiled at Kendall.

"You're welcome," Kendall said shyly. He sat awkwardly for a few seconds, not quite knowing what to do. Luckily, Elie rescued him from even more awkwardness.

"I'm hungry, let's eat," Elie said.

"You're always hungry," Kendall said back.

"Shut up," Elie said as she changed channels on the TV. "Oh, look, Gilmore Girls. One of the early seasons, I think, judging from their outfits."

"Did you use to watch that show a lot?" Kendall asked.

"Not really. Only when I'm over at friends who really watched it. Why, did you watch it?" Elie asked. "Oh wait, you're like 9 when it first came out."

"No, I didn't. My mom sort of did. Sort of," Kendall replied.

Elie and Kendall ate cupcakes and drank iced coffee as they watched the episode. A few minutes in, a scene comes on. A group of boy scouts enter the diner. At the front of the pack was a tall blond boy with quite a mouth on him.

"Oh my freaking god sweet baby Jesus Christ Buddha whaaaaattttt?!" Elie said, mouth full of red velvet, when she realized that Kendall was the obnoxious blond kid on the TV screen. "Oh my go—hahahahahahahaha! Baby Kendall oh my goddddddd... How old were you there?" Elie was laughing hysterically.

Kendall can't help but laugh with Elie. "I think I was about 10. And wasn't I cute?"

"That kid was so you," Elie said.

"I don't believe I ever was that obnoxious," Kendall said.

"Sassy blond boy," Elie said. "You're so cute."

They finished the episode, talking about some other stuff during breaks. Turner Classic Movies was showing a western and they watched it even if they didn't understand a thing. They just loved sitting next to each other on the floor, heads resting on the edge of the bed. Every once in a while, Elie would rest her head on Kendall's shoulders and Kendall would lean over so their heads were touching. It was a very comforting position to be in.

"Sorry I was cranky last night," Elie said mid-movie.

Kendall just took Elie's hands in his and they continued watching the movie. When the movie finished, Elie helped Kendall pack up the picnic things. Kendall looked at Elie as she was folding the picnic blanket. There really was something about this girl that made his heart jump when he sees her, especially in unguarded moments like that.

"You know what I want to do?" Kendall asked.

Elie finished folding the blanket and was carefully putting it on top of the basket. "No, what?"

Kendall walked towards Elie and said, "This," and then kissed her. It was a deep kiss, so deep that it took both their breaths away. Elie was startled at first but kissed Kendall back.

Elie was feeling lightheaded from everything that's been happening. She still had her eyes closed when the kiss finished and quickly opened her eyes to stop embarrassing herself. "That was um…"

Kendall was amused that Elie was turning red and couldn't seem to look him in the eye. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm quite alright," Elie replied, still avoiding Kendall's eyes. She started gathering her things. "I think I need to check out now. I remembered I'm meeting a friend later and I need to get home and I'm still here in Burbank so I really need to go." Elie was talking really fast.

Kendall got Elie's hand and that stopped her from babbling. "Elie," Kendall said, "look at me." Elie looked up at Kendall. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, Elie. I'm sorry."

"No, no. I just… I wasn't … I didn't expect _that._" Elie smiled a little. "I'm sorry for being so awkward. Here, let's do it again." And with that, Elie kissed Kendall. This time the kiss was longer and pretty soon they fell into bed still kissing. Kendall propped up on his elbows so he was now on top of Elie. He stopped kissing Elie long enough to look at her and marvel at how they came to be in this position.

"I love you, Elie," Kendall said.

"You barely know me, Kendall," came Elie's reply.

"I know enough," Kendall said, brushing stray hands of hair from Elie's face. He then kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then back to her lips. Elie was helpless to resist.

All this time Elie was waging a battle in her head. _What do you think you're doing, miss? How about stopping right now? But you like this guy, don't you? You probably already love him too. At least you care so much about him, now isn't that love? Yeah but he kissed me first, like what am I supposed to do? But you kissed him back and you initiated this kiss. What is wrong with you, woman? But I like kissing him. He tastes so sweet and his lips are so soft and oh my god what a great kisser. Stop, quiet, stop, stop, stop, be quiet, stop!_

Elie pulled back from Kendall, breathing heavily, face on fire, and said, "I can't even begin to tell you how I feel about you." That was true. But she left off the part about being scared shitless of how fast things were going and how strongly she felt about Kendall. But she didn't care about anything else at that moment except for being with him. She pushed back the long-sleeved flannel shirt that Kendall was wearing and then pulled his shirt up to take it off. Kendall helped her take off her shirt and her pants and pretty soon both of them were only in their underwear. They kissed again, and then Kendall stopped to ask Elie, "Are you sure?"

To which Elie nodded yes. _I'll deal with myself later, _she thought.

_**Quite sorry, everyone. It's a crap chapter but I couldn't seem to find a way to remedy it. I can't write sex to save my life. I wish I could and I envy those who can. I think I'm better off writing other stuff. I think I might change the rating to T instead of M just so I can concentrate on, you know, other stuff. Sorry. xx**_


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

Elie was looking at herself in the mirror with a sheet wrapped around her. She was talking to herself.

"What in the flying fuck, Elie? What have you done? You happy now?" She was trying to keep her voice down, in case Kendall hears from outside. "This was a bad idea. Bad, bad, bad. Bad."

She suddenly felt tears stinging her eyes. Elie sat on the edge of the tub and wiped the tears from her eyes. _Kendall's too good for this, too good for me. What are you doing, Elie? Shit. _

Elie got dressed and went out of the bathroom. She found Kendall sitting on the bed already dressed except for his shoes, patiently waiting for her. He smiled when he saw Elie and held out his hand. Elie took it and was supposed to sit beside him, but Kendall made her sit on his lap instead and hugged her.

"What are you doing?" Elie asked.

"Hugging my girlfriend," Kendall replied.

_Oh my god what I have done. _"Kendall…"

A look of worry spread over Kendall's face. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No. It's just that we really don't know each other that well and…" Elie was getting distracted by the way Kendall was looking at her. _Freaking green eyes. _"And aren't we moving a bit too fast?"

"When you know, you know Elie," Kendall softly said.

Elie just nodded. It got her thinking that maybe she was overthinking things and maybe she should just sit back and enjoy it. Maybe she shouldn't be as scared as she was. Maybe she should come clean about being scared.

Elie and Kendall checked out of the hotel and Kendall drove Elie home back to her apartment. She was telling Kendall that she had a friend to meet back in LA in a few hours, but that she was going to take her car to that appointment. Kendall was insisting on taking her to her friend and then picking her up if she wanted, or he could come with her so he could meet some of her friends. Elie relented. She finally found herself with a boyfriend she really, really liked. Might as well introduce her to the special people in her lives. On the way back to Anaheim, Elie's phone rang. She checked who it was and Kendall noticed that she smiled when she saw who was calling. _Who could that be _he thought.

"Hey baby boy," he heard Elie say. Kendall cocked an eyebrow but kept driving. He could hear the smile in Elie's voice as she discussed dinner plans with this "Baby Boy." That was probably a really old term of endearment. Baby Boy was probably gay. When Elie got off the phone, Kendall asked her, "So was that your friend?"

"Yep. He was asking me where I would like to go tonight, then I told him I was gonna bring somebody, but he didn't bring anyone with him but I told him to suck it up," Elie was smiling as she recounted her conversation with Baby Boy.

"Is he gay?" Kendall asked bluntly.

"What? No," Elie replied. "Wait, are you jealous?"

"No," Kendall kept on driving, but Elie laughed hysterically at how Kendall was acting.

"My _boyfriend_ is jealous!" Elie teased.

The fact that Elie called him her boyfriend was enough to make Kendall smile and forget about the ridiculous jealousy – if that was what it was – he felt earlier. Elie kissed him on the cheek while they were at a red light and said, "He's like my brother. I call him baby boy because that's what I've called him since he was young, and I love that boy to death. And he's not gay. In fact he's a big hit with the ladies, and that's why I'm quite anxious to meet up with him, try to see if he's being a cad. I haven't seen him in a few years."

They finally arrived at Elie's apartment in Anaheim. Kendall couldn't believe that he had been here only yesterday and now Elie was his girlfriend. It seemed like everything was moving fast for them, but it didn't matter to Kendall. All he knew was that he was so happy and Elie was happy.

They had a few hours to kill and they used up the hours watching a movie, making lunch, and making love for the second time that day. Elie seemed to have relaxed more and was slowly but surely easing her doubts and apprehensions away. She had always loved lazy Sundays, and this was one of those that she'll remember for a long time.

They were gonna meet Baby Boy at the W Hotel, where he's staying. Thankfully, traffic easing into LA wasn't that horrible, given that it was a Sunday and there were able to get into the hotel faster than they estimated. They entered the hotel and asked for Baby Boy by name, the first time that Kendall heard it.

"Let me see if I remember this right – Zamir Yassin Brennan. I don't know if he goes by Zamir now, or Yassin," Elie told the concierge. The concierge dialed Baby Boy's room and then told Elie and Kendall that Mr. Brennan will be coming down shortly. They decided to wait by the welcome desk.

"Baby Boy's name is Zamir?" Kendall asked.

"Uh-huh," Elie replied, peeking over where the elevators were. "It means "singer." And then his middle name, Yassin, means "rich." His parents really had high hopes for him."

A booming voice with a distinct British accent shouted out into the W Hotel lounge: "EEEELLLLIIIE JEEEELLLLYYYYYYY!"

Elie and Kendall turned around to where the voice was coming from, and Elie ran to him. Kendall had a quick look at the guy before he started twirling Elie off the ground. _Crap! He's not bad-looking and he's known Elie for much longer and they seem close and Elie seems so happy to see him I mean look at her. He's actually good-looking. Shit._

Kendall just stood by the welcome desk as Elie and Zamir did a quick catch-up on what's going on in each other's lives. Kendall saw a petite blonde approach Zamir, who then introduced her to Elie. _Must be the girlfriend then, _Kendall thought. He then saw Elie, Zamir, and the blonde girl walk toward him.

"Kendall, I would like you to meet my baby boy –" Zamir nudged Elie when she said "baby boy" but Elie ignored it - "Zamir."

Zamir held out his hand and shook Kendall's hand. "Great to meet you, mate."

"Great to meet you too," Kendall said.

Elie went on. "And this is his girlfriend, Pamela." Kendall shook Pamela's hand as well.

"I made reservations at the restaurant here, the NineThirty I believe. We should get going or we'll be late," Zamir said.

At dinner, there was more catching up. Kendall was feeling a bit out of place because he seemed to have little in common with Zamir and whatever-her-name-was-blonde-girl, but Elie seemed to be having the time of her life so he just coasted by, trying get into the conversation here and then. Elie did manage to get him in the discussions, and God bless her for that, but when the topic was about the old times Kendall had nothing to say obviously.

"I have a question," Kendall piped up. Elie, Zamir, and Pamela stopped talking to hear what Kendall wanted to ask.

"Go on, mate, what is it?" Zamir said.

"How did you two know each other?" Kendall asked.

"That's a good question, Kibs," Elie said.

Zamir laughed. "You really want to know?" Kendall nodded.

"Okay," Zamir went on, "Elie here used to baby sit me and my older sister. She did that for a couple of years."

_Babysitter? Wow. How old is this kid exactly. He looks around my age, _Kendall thought. _And she lived in England? What?_

"Kendall's about a couple of years older than you, babe," Elie told Zamir.

Zamir's eyes widened. "Oh you saucy cradle robber!" he teased.

"Shut up, or I'll start telling Pam all the embarrassing stories I know about you," Elie retorted.

Their banter continued and Kendall was left to his thoughts. A few minutes later, the girls excused themselves to go to the powder room. Zamir and Kendall were left in their booth. Kendall was avoiding any type of conversation with Zamir because he thought he really didn't have anything to say to him. He sipped on his drink and people-watched, avoiding looking at Zamir altogether. Meanwhile, Zamir was looking at him with a smirk on his face. _What is this boy's problem? _Kendall thought. Then Zamir spoke.

"Don't be jealous of me, mate," he said.

Kendall turned his head towards Zamir. "Excuse me, what?"

"I said you don't need to be jealous of me," Zamir essentially repeated what he previously said.

"What makes you think I'm jealous?" Kendall asked.

"You've been awfully quiet. I mean I do understand that it's the first time you've met me, and I'm probably the first friend of Elie's that you met and you didn't expect for me to be a straight man she'd known a long time and pretty close to. I reckon you're thinking who I am in her life. And you roll your eyes every time I say something that Elie finds funny. I could go on," Zamir replied.

Kendall just looked at Zamir weirdly.

"I am not a threat," Zamir went on. "Elie's like my sister. She took care of me and my sister when we were younger and we've remained close all these years. I love her, man."

Kendall took a swig of his drink and just looked at Zamir warily.

"I love her but I'm not in love with her. I have a girlfriend, man, and I'm in love with that one. I know you're a nice bloke, Kendall. She has told me all about you. I just don't want to be a source of trouble between you two," Zamir said.

Kendall heaved a sigh of relief. So this boy was no threat. He managed to smile a bit. "I'm sorry if I'm acting like an ass. Everything's so new and it happened so fast that I can't believe we are where we are, you know?"

"But do you love her, man? I mean not in the way that I love her, but do you love her _love_ her? Are you in love with Elie?"

"Yes. Yes. It's something that took me by surprise, not because Elie's not awesome or anything, but because I didn't expect it. I didn't expect it to hit me this hard. I really love her," Kendall replied.

"Take care of her, man," Zamir said. "She deserves all the best things in the world, especially after what she's gone through in her life."

Kendall gave Zamir a puzzled look. "Why, what happened?"

"What are you talking about, dearest boys?" Elie said from out of nowhere. Elie had the uncanny ability to seem to cut off conversations just when something important is about to be said. She kissed Kendall's forehead before she sat down.

"Nothing. Just threatening your boyfriend there of bodily harm if he ever hurts you," Zamir jokingly said. "But I was also telling him how awesome you are so he should really take care of you and never let you go, ever." He winked at Elie.

"Aww that's sweet," Elie smiled.

More conversation and food and drinks followed. This time around, Kendall found it easier to join into conversations and was smiling more. For Elie's sake, he'll try to get along better with her friends. Kendall admitted to himself that yes, he was jealous of all the attention Zamir had gotten from Elie and how happy Zamir was making Elie feel. Kendall felt that it was his job to make her happy, no one else's. But once he admitted what he felt to himself, he got over it and started to enjoy the night. All this for Elie's sake.

Kendall was still wondering about what Zamir said earlier though, the bit about Elie going through certain trials in her life. In the short time he has known her and in all that time they spent together, Elie has never mentioned anything. If it's something that affected Elie deeply, he wanted to know. But he didn't know how he'd start asking Elie about it.

_**Thank you for all your kind words. You guys don't know how much I appreciate it. I hope this chapter could tide you over for now. I hope to upload as soon as I can. Christmas parties left and right make it quite difficult to find some writing time but don't worry, I'll find time. Thank you again and I hope you keep reading. xx E**_


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

The night ended quite early for a Sunday, but they had to call it a night because Zamir and Pam had somewhere important to go to the next day. Kendall didn't have anything on his schedule for Monday, and that means Elie was free too. Zamir and Elie made plans to see each other one more time before he goes back to London because Elie wanted to send some gifts to Zamir's sister. Zamir and Pam went up to their room and Kendall waited for the valet to get Elie's car.

In the car, Elie asked Kendall if he wanted to hang out, so they drove around until they found an interesting-looking café that looks like it could be at home in the Middle East. The place had a few other patrons, each in deep conversation with whoever they were talking too. The atmosphere is relaxed, and since it was a Sunday, there weren't that many people and Kendall and Elie were able to find a good spot.

"This is your kind of place," Elie told Kendall after they finished ordering.

Kendall cocked an eyebrow at Elie and said, "And why do you say so, miss?"

"I bet you'd love to see all sorts of places around the world. The only problem is that you're a picky eater, which sucks the life out of every journey," Elie joked. "But… you look like that kind of person who will enjoy seeing the world. And here's a bit of it in LA."

Kendall just took Elie's hand, kissed it, and then smiled back at her. Elie just looked back. They just kept looking at each other even when the waiter brought their orders to their table.

"We do a lot of staring, don't we?" Elie finally cut the silence.

"I love you, Elie," Kendall replied, seemingly ignoring what Elie just said.

To that Elie just mouthed, "And I love you too," at Kendall. Inaudible, yet clear in its message.

Kendall closed his eyes to try to remember that time, over a year ago, when he and Elie first got together. If he focused enough, he could almost taste the tea, hear the conversations happening at other tables, remembered how Elie smelled, and looked, and felt. One year seems like a long time, judging from the look of things.

Was it a bad day, a collection of bad days, or did their love just fizzle? It happened so fast that everybody around them couldn't quite believe that they parted ways. Neither could Kendall, to tell the truth. He sighed. Quite loudly.

"Are you thinking about her again?" Carlos asked. He was seated beside Kendall on the plane home from New York, where they did a couple of TV guestings and had another gig at Times Square.

Kendall shook his head no, but you could see in his eyes that Carlos was right. He had mostly kept to himself about their breakup, choosing to concentrate on work instead. His bandmates all told him that they were there for him if he ever needed to talk or sort things out, but he just put all his energy into writing songs and all other work that needed to be done. It was obvious, though, what was on his mind this whole time as all the songs he has written all have that painfully sad quality to them. Even Dustin had asked him to come up with happier shit or else have their listeners cry uncontrollably at their shows. But there was no talking to him about Elie.

Kendall started to put his earphones on but then took them out again and turned towards Carlos. "Do you think… do you think she even thinks about me?"

The look on Kendall's face broke Carlos' heart. He didn't know how to answer his friend's question, so they sat in silence for a few seconds. Kendall waved his hand and said, "Anyway, forget I asked." He started to put his earphones back on.

"No, no, wait, wait, wait," Carlos grabbed Kendall's hand to stop him from wearing his earphones. "Dude, you never talk to us about this so we could only guess how you're doing. Sometimes we think you're okay – I mean you've been dating a bit right? – but sometimes there are days like this and we see how you really are."

Kendall only shrugged.

"Why don't you call her?" Carlos asked.

"And what would I tell her when she answers the phone?"

"Ask her what you asked me just now."

"I tried calling her a week after we…" Kendall trailed off. "She cut off her phone, social contacts, everything. I don't know how to reach her. I don't know where she is."

Shortly after Elie and Kendall broke up, it seemed that Elie disappeared from the face of the earth. He was able to find Zamir's facebook and asked him about Elie but all Zamir had to say was for him not to worry, that Elie was okay, and that she'll probably talk to him when she's ready. It's been a year and the only contact that Kendall has had with Elie has been through what Zamir was willing to tell him.

Kendall had only seen one photo of Elie the past year, and that was when Zamir's nephew was born a few months ago. Elie was holding the baby and smiling quite proudly. Kendall had asked Zamir if Elie was in London, but Zamir only replied no. That was the end of the discussion. It would seem that Elie didn't really want to be found.

So Kendall just wrote songs and continued to work, getting collaborations and shows here and there. He had tried dating, but nothing really held up. Kendall felt he and Elie had unfinished business and he just wanted to make things clear once and for all so they can move on. So he can move on.

Meanwhile, Zamir was tired of keeping secrets. Elie was indeed in London. She moved there after finishing her graphic design studies and found work as a graphic designer at one of the studios there. She found a flat right next to where Zamir and his girlfriend live and was adjusting quite well to the London lifestyle.

He just got off the phone with Kendall, in another one of his monthly phone calls asking about Elie and how she's doing. Elie told Zamir that under no circumstance will he tell Kendall where she is or what she's doing. There have been times that Zamir was tempted to tell Kendall where Elie was so they could talk and sort things out, whatever their issues were. There was so much that Kendall had to know.

His doorbell rang and Pam answered it.

"Oh hey, look who's here! Hey, baby!" Pam squealed as she took the baby boy from his mother's arms.

"Can you guys watch over Kieran for a bit? I need to finish this one important thing. I need a couple of hours of focus," Elie asked Zamir and Pam.

"It's no problem. We'll just be chilling at home anyway. And it's always nice to have Kieran over," Pam replied, cooing over the 4-month-old baby with light brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes, more green than brown.

"I just got off the phone with your baby daddy," Zamir flatly told Elie.

"Change your number and stop talking to him," Elie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if you need anything, I'm right next door."

"Elie, Kieran is growing up fast!" Zamir called out to Elie as she hurried to the door. Elie turned to Zamir.

"Really, right now?"

"You never want it discussed, Kendall's calling all the time, and one time he called while you were feeding Kieran in the kitchen and Elie I really, really feel bad for the man. Why don't you just talk to him? Tell him he has a son!" Zamir said, exasperated. "And don't tell me you'll do when the time is right because it is never the right time."

Elie just stood there, motionless. And then she said, "I'll be back In 2 hours." Elie then hurried out the door and ran back to her flat where her work was waiting for her. She can't even try to begin to explain why she's acting the way she is, or why she didn't tell Kendall that she got pregnant with their baby and gave birth a few months ago.

Unknown to anyone else, Elie has tried to incorporate Kendall in Kieran's life. She shows him pictures of Kendall, puts a DVD of his show during playtime, and tells him about his daddy all the time. Kieran is far too young to understand or remember all this, but Elie wants him to grow up with Kendall as a familiar face. She figured he'll get angry at her when he finds out, but she hopes he'll understand it's all for the best. Kendall's career seems to be better than ever, and she thinks that's a fair tradeoff for now. She's sometimes tempted to give him a call to tell him, or at least his parents. She thinks Kathy and Kent would be in love with Kieran, and his uncles would surely dote on him. Elie has nobody except for Zamir, Pam, and the rest of Zamir's family, whom have treated Kieran with absolute loveliness. She is grateful for that, but another set of uncles and grandparents would be awesome. Perhaps one day.

Through all this, she misses Kendall. She misses everything about him. Sometimes she thinks it's worth a shot to give up everything she has worked for in London and pack up Kieran and move back to California. And then see if she and Kendall could work things out. If not, at least she had introduced him to their son.

"I'm home!" Kendall called out as he closed the front door.

"We're in the kitchen, honey," said Kathy. Kendall headed towards the kitchen. His parents were there, plus Kevin.

"How was your trip," his mother asked when he settled down on a chair.

"It was good. Crowd turnout was great, we had fun," Kendall replied a bit too routinely.

"Something's bothering you, son?" Kent asked Kendall.

Kendall shook his head. "I guess I'm just tired from the flight. I'll go up to my room if you don't mind."

"Go on and rest," his mom said.

When Kendall got out of the kitchen, Kevin said, "She's thinking about Elie again."

"I don't think she's over her yet," Kent said. "Why did they break up again?"

"Nobody really knows. It just happened all of a sudden, and then Elie was gone. Such a waste. She was a very nice girl," Kathy remarked.

"I don't think they were angry at each other. It's just so weird that it suddenly ended – as suddenly as it began," Kevin agreed.

"So nobody knows where Elie is right now or what she's doing?" Kent asked.

"Kendall said he had only been talking to one of Elie's closest friends in London, and he told her she's alright, but also that she wasn't in London," Kevin replied.

"Not in London and not in LA?" Kent asked again. Kevin nodded.

"Nobody knows where she is. Like she dropped off the face of the earth. But obviously, Kendall's still hurting."

"But he has gone out on dates the past few months, right?" Kathy asked. "What's that last girl's name, Georgia, I think? That one seemed nice."

"That lasted a few weeks, I think," said Kent. "You think he ought to give that one another try?"

"I think the only person Kendall is willing to give another try would be Elie," Kevin replied.

_**Sorry to break your hearts like this, but happy new year! **___


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

Elie got a phone call just as she was putting the finishing touches on the design job she was working on. It was a design proposal for an album cover for a new boy band based in LA, and it was a big deal. She told her boss that since she used to work in that industry in LA, she had a grasp of what would work, so he gave her the job. It was supposed to be a design proposal thing, but she's so into it that she went ahead and made design mockups. She finished the concepts peg board while Kieran was sleeping, but he got a bit fussy so she had to take him next door to Aunt Pamela and Uncle Zamir's house for a bit of playtime.

"Do you have a passport, Elie?" Stanley, her boss, asked.

"I suppose so. Otherwise I don't know how I was able to move here," Elie replied.

"Right, good. You're coming to LA with me to present this, is that clear?"

"No problem," Elie said. And then she remembered Kieran. "Oh, wait. When exactly next week? I need to arrange sitters for Kieran."

"Ah, yes. We would be leaving Thursday morning. We'll be back in London by Saturday afternoon. The meeting is for Friday morning."

Elie took note of the dates and told her boss it's not a problem at all, and then hung up. Los Angeles, it's been a while.

On Thursday morning, she dropped of Kieran at Zamir's parents house, along with tons of reminders of feeding times, nap times, bath times, and all that. Mr. and Mrs. Brennan could only chuckle at how Elie was so nervous about leaving her baby with them, and had to gently remind her that they successfully raised four children without maiming or injuring any of them, so Kieran should be alright for 3 days. A few extra hugs and kisses and a few photos of Kieran later, Elie took off for the office, where she and her boss would be meeting before heading to the airport.

She had a bit of time to kill when she got at work, so she decided to look over what she will be presenting to the clients the next day. And then her boss arrived, so it was time to go to Heathrow. The flight was uneventful, although Elie felt a bit jittery as they got nearer and nearer to Los Angeles. The meeting won't be until the next day and they didn't have anything planned, so Stanley the boss told Elie to do as she pleases and went about his own way. They were to meet at 9 am the next day at the hotel lobby prior to going to the recording company.

For one thing, she didn't dare venture out of the hotel. She didn't want to risk running into Kendall or any of the boys. She missed them a lot, but now is just not the time for catching up. She decided to order a movie and some room service instead. She then FaceTimed with the Brennans to check on her son. She couldn't help but tear up a bit when she saw Kieran smiling into the camera. She hasn't ever been away from him since he was born, and now she was breathing the same air as his dad.

There's no mistaking that Kieran is Kendall's kid. All babies look the same, but then as they get older their features start appearing. For one thing, Kieran got Kendall's eyes and dimples. Kieran is such a happy baby, too. He reminded Elie of Kendall a lot, and in that sense it made it easier to not see Kendall because essentially he was still with her.

Elie was up and about early the next morning, understandably nervous about the presentation. She hated getting up in front of people, even if it's just 2 people in the room. For this presentation, there'll be about 5-10 people present, and Elie could feel the nerves coming on as she dressed. She was practicing what she was going to say in order not to make a fool of herself.

The company's dress code was pretty much casual, and in order to save some space in her suitcase, she brought a simple, black, ¾-sleeve dress and studded flats to wear to the meeting. Nothing too stiff. Stanley himself was in jeans and a button-down. She decided not to cover the Kieran tattoo on her left wrist, which she got a month ago. _Maybe they like tattoos, _she thought. On her finger she wore the Alexander McQueen skull ring which Kendall got her for birthday a year ago, when they first got together. It's a pretty large ring, which a large red Swarovski heart on top. Pretty macabre and pretty awesome. She loved that ring not only because of its innate awesomeness, but because it came from Kendall. Maybe it'll help her get through the meeting knowing she has a piece of him with her.

Elie and Stanley worked through the details of the presentation and he wished her luck. Before they entered the conference room, Elie asked Stanley the name of the boy band they were presenting to, which she has neglected to ask up until this time. Stanley's answer made Elie's face ghost-white: "Big Time Rush."

Stanley entered the room, leaving Elie hyperventilating outside.

Elie took 10 seconds to breathe deeply and calm herself before Stanley thinks something is amiss. He could hear introductions going on, and she heard Carlos, Logan, and James speak. Then she heard Kendall. Kendall was there. Of course he was there. She was going to be face to face with Kendall in a few minutes.

Big Time Rush decided to go with the Stanley RR Design Studio because they have been great admirers of the work the studio has put out over the years. Stanley was pretty well known in the art and design circles, and has been known to only hire topnotch artists and put out consistently quality work. They directly contacted them about setting up a meeting regarding the cover for their newest album, but Stanley one-upped them and told them that the studio was going to send them design proposals. They were delighted. After contracts were signed and such, Stanley has told the boys that they might be able to present the ideas in Los Angeles, and that he was bringing over the artist who worked on the mock-ups so they can directly give their input and critiques.

They were all seated around the conference table when Stanley walked in and greeted them. It was the first time they were seeing each other in person, and the creative energy was very much palpable. They all took their seats when Stanley realized Elie was not in the room.

"I'm sorry, my artist must have wandered off. Excuse me for a moment," he said as he stood up and got out of the room. He found Elie just outside the door.

"Elie, come in, we're about to start," Stanley said as he motioned for Elie to go inside the room. Elie followed her boss, not sure about what would happen next. As Elie walked in the room, she saw that all four boys were busy tinkering with their phones.

"Alright boys, here's my talented artist," he said as he took a seat.

Carlos was the first to look up. His eyes widened when he saw who it was. "ELIE!" Carlos stood up and gave Elie a bear hug. James and Logan also stood up to give Elie a hug.

Kendall, meanwhile, had his earphones on, and didn't realize what was going on until he saw his bandmates huddled over a figure by the door. When the boys finally separated from the person, he froze when he realized who it was. His heart suddenly got lodged in his throat. He was looking at Elie, but Elie was not looking at him.

"You know these guys?" Stanley asked Elie as she took a seat and everyone else settled down.

"I used to work for them," Elie replied. She then turned towards the band. "I'm here to present the design concepts that we have worked on for your new album cover. Now, forgive the lack of band names of the board because I wasn't told which band I was working for, but they did tell me the market and your thoughts and what you guys were going for essentially."

Elie discussed the concepts she had come up with – although only with Logan, James, and Carlos. Kendall was just there, and Elie wasn't even looking at him. Kendall doesn't know what to do – or what to feel for that matter. He had been trying to find Elie for so long and now he's a few feet in front of her, and wearing the ring he gave her. What does he say to her?

"Hey, Kendall, what do you think of these?" Carlos handed him the stack of mockups that Elie had brought. Now all eyes were on him – the band, their handler, Stanley. Elie was looking down at her notes.

"Uh…" he went through the stack. "I think I like this one best," he said as he randomly picked one of the designs. He then pushed the stack back at the middle of the table. As Elie reached out to get the samples, Kendall noticed the tattoo on her wrist. It read "Kieran." His heart sank. _Already tattooing somebody's name on her wrist, _he thought. He regretted seeing that tattoo.

Elie realized that Kendall was looking at her wrist, so she immediately put her hands on her lap to try to conceal it from Kendall.

"You have some pretty solid stuff, Elie," James remarked.

"Thank you," Elie beamed. "You guys can email your questions and suggestions to Stan and I'll see what I can do."

"Or you may email Elie directly. Elie, you have your cards with you, right?" Stan asked.

Elie wasn't comfortable with giving any of the boys a card with details of her whereabouts. It had her mobile number, for crying out loud. Not that the boys were harmful. It's just that… she doesn't know why she's so uncomfortable. Maybe she's nervous about Kendall finding out about Kieran. But then, why?

"I think I left them at my other bag in the hotel," Elie tried to get out of giving her business card away.

"Oh dear, that's unfortunate. But anyway, it looks like you guys have a lot of things to discuss. You have the whole day free, Elie. You can discuss with the band, throw ideas about. I'll see you at the hotel lobby tomorrow morning at 10." Stanley left the room with the managers and handlers to talk finances before Elie can protest. Now she's alone with James, Logan, Carlos, and Kendall just like old times. Elie pretended to arrange the samples and mockups in order to avoid starting a conversation first. She felt her phone vibrate. There was a message from Stanley: _I reckon there's something you're not telling me ;) Anyway, the job is ours. Please finalise design concepts before we fly out tomorrow. X Stan_

_Great, now I have to tell my boss about my personal life,_ Elie thought.

"What are you scowling about?" James asked Elie.

"Message from my boss," she smiled awkwardly. An awfully long, awkward silence followed.

"So…" Logan mumbled.

"I – I think I should get going," Elie stammered as she gathered her things.

"But Elie!" Carlos protested.

Elie stood up. "Guys, can you just email Stan your other thoughts should something pop up, then I can work on them?"

"Are you mad at us?" Logan asked.

"What? No!" Elie replied. "Why would I be mad at… any of you?"

Logan just shrugged and cocked his head to Kendall's direction. Elie shook her head no. And with that, Elie hurried out the conference room. "I'll email you guys about this," she called out as she ran.

…

In Elie's mad dash to get out of the conference room, she left her phone on the table. She was fishing for it all the way down in the elevator because she desperately wanted to check on Kieran. When she realized her phone wasn't in her bag, she was already in the lobby.

"Drats. Now I have to go back up and get it," she said, pressing the elevator buttons repeatedly, as though that would help bring the elevators down faster. She was seriously considering taking the stairs, but the conference room was on the 17th floor so stairs aren't a great idea. There were two elevators facing each other that she had been watching because they were both on their way down. She was facing the other elevator when she heard a voice.

"Elie." It was Kendall.

Elie knew who it was immediately, so she turned towards Kendall. He handed her the phone.

"You left your phone," he said.

"Thank you. I was looking for that," Elie said, looking at everything except Kendall's eyes. An awkward silence follows for a good 3 seconds. Elie thought she better end this.

"Okay then. I have to go. Thanks for bringing this," Elie said as she walked backwards from Kendall. Kendall still wasn't saying anything. Elie didn't notice the huge guy behind her as she walked and she bumped into him.

"Oh hey, you're back in LA!" said Ranel as he gave Elie a hug.

"Hi, Ranel!" Elie hugged back. "I was just going. Great seeing you."

"Whoa, wait, wait. No catch up with us?" Ranel asked.

"You guys might have somewhere else to go to, so I don't wanna interfere," Elie replied.

"I don't think we have anything scheduled. Ain't that right, Kendall?" Ranel turned to Kendall for an answer. Kendall nodded and said in a barely audible voice, "Yeah, we're free."

"Come on, Elie, have lunch and then we can drop you off wherever you're staying. Stay here, I'll get the other boys," Ranel said. It seemed like Elie had no choice but to relent to go with them to lunch. He then asked Kendall where the other boys are and went up the elevator to get them. Elie and Kendall were left alone, and what an awkward situation it was.

They were sort of blocking the way between elevators, so they both started to walk towards the lobby. Elie was trying to keep Kendall at arm's length so she started wandering off in the opposite direction from Kendall and called Mr. and Mrs. Brennan so she could check on how Kieran was doing.

Unbeknownst to Elie, Kendall was a nervous wreck and was anxiously thinking about what to say to her. He didn't know where to start, what to ask, or when the right time is to ask her. For sure Kendall has a lot of questions for Elie. He wanted to know how she had been, who's that name tattooed on her wrist, who is she talking to right now that seems to be making her smile a lot, does she miss him, does she still love him, can they give it another try… a lot of questions. But Kendall felt like Elie wanted nothing to do with him, as evidenced by her walking as far away from him as possible and calling someone else to keep from talking to him.

So he left. The boys would have a great time with her and he might just spoil their lunch, or Elie might not be too comfortable with him there.

Elie didn't notice Kendall leaving until the boys came and asked her where Kendall was. She shrugged and said she didn't know. James took out his phone and called Kendall.

"Kendall, where the fuck are you?" James asked when Kendall answered the phone.

"I had to go," was Kendall's curt reply. "Anyway, enjoy your lunch,"

"Go where? C'mon. You've been looking for Elie for such a long time and now… hello? Hello? Oh no you didn't just hang up on me!" He looked at his phone forlornly. "Motherfucker hung up on me."

All this while, Elie had this look on her face that registered as discomfort.

"Oh, don't worry about that guy," Logan said, putting his arm around Elie. "He's just… moody."

"I'm not worried," Elie reassured Logan. "Anyway, we better get going if we actually want to get lunch under way."

The boys decided to walk about about a block away to a restaurant that served great lunch, or so they heard. It was a bit early, so getting a table was easy. They were able to get the private dining area pretty much on the spot. That's what money and a bit of Hollywood clout can do. There were only five of them, but they got a room that can sit 40 people. Elie was a bit nervous because she was thinking, _Why a private room? Are they going to interrogate me?_ Interrogation may not be the right word for it, but the boys did ask questions.

Thankfully, they let her settle down and eat first. They started with pretty general questions but Elie knew there was one question they really wanted to ask.

"Elie, can I ask you something," Carlos whispered.

Elie squinted and looked at Carlos, trying to assess what he's trying to ask. But then she shrugged and said, "Fuck it. Give me your best shot."

"So, uh… why did you and Kendall break up? And more importantly, why drop off the face of the earth all of a sudden?"

For some strange reason, nobody has asked her that question in the past year. She had avoided talking about it to Zamir or Pam or Zamir's parents. She felt weird, like it suddenly dawned on her that Kendall and her were broken up and that she was in LA at that moment and that she and Kendall haven't spoken to each other apart from the "You left your phone" episode. It made her sad, which immediately registered on her face. Carlos was quick to notice it.

"I didn't mean to…" Carlos started.

"No, no, it's okay. Someone's bound to ask anyway. I was just wondering which one of you guys will," Elie tried to laugh. Where does she start? When they started having trouble when the tour started, with one off to travel and one left to her own little world? Does she start with their communication troubles? Does she hint at the hormonal troubles her then-unknown pregnancy gave her, which ultimately led to their breaking up? What of the seething jealousy previously unknown to her before suddenly rearing its head back then? Does she mention the feeling of abandonment she felt, yet fighting with herself because she knows the tour is very important to Kendall and his happiness? What does she say?

"We, uh… we drifted apart, I guess," Elie said, carefully choosing her words. "And in the grand scheme of things, you know, there's his career, his family, his friends, his other friends, and then a long list of other stuff, and then there's me. I'm not his priority."

"But no… Kendall loves you. And by that I mean he still loves you. In love still," James countered.

"He should try dating other people then," Elie said coolly, but she couldn't hide her sad eyes. "And where is he now, see?"

"Have… are you dating someone right now?' Logan asked.

Elie shook her head no. "I'm really busy to even consider anything else outside of work." In truth, Elie really didn't want to date _anyone._

"So why did you disappear? And why London?" Logan prodded on.

"I wanted to start anew, but not so much that I didn't know anyone. London's familiar, but I have the equivalent of family there, and apart from them nobody knows me. I needed some semblance of family…" Elie trailed off before she could start babbling about discovering her pregnancy, giving birth, and now raising Kieran as a single mom.

"Do you still love him?" Logan bravely asked. The table fell silent, hanging on what Elie had to say next.

"I try not to."

.

.

.

.

_**Yeah, I don't know what happens next. We'll see. Thanks for reading! **___


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

Kendall put the phone back in his pocket walked to his car with a heavy heart. He had been walking around to pass time, not knowing where to go, when he got the phone call from James. As much as he wanted to be with Elie and ask her all the questions he wanted to ask the entire year that she'd been gone, he knew he couldn't bear another hour of cool detachment that Elie had been showing him.

_Can't really blame her, _he thought. He started his car and started driving home.

When he got home, he found his family at the dining table, having what looks like a late lunch. He sat down at his place at the table, while his mom served him food.

"Tough day?" Kevin asked. Kendall didn't reply. He seemed lost in thought. Kevin looked at his parents with a puzzled expression.

Kathy put her hand on Kendall's shoulder and asked, "Is everything alright, honey?"

"I saw Elie today," was all Kendall said. Needless to say, that was a surprise to the family.

"So how did it go?" Kathy asked.

Kendall shrugged and shook his head. "We didn't really get to talk. She was the artist for the next album's cover, so she presented concepts and… I don't know, that's about it for us."

"Was she sad, mad, or glad?" asked Kevin. Kendall just shook his head as he pushed his food around his plate with his fork. And then he stood up.

"I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, Kevin. I just need to take some time alone," and with that, he got out of the dining room and went straight to his room. He didn't even bother changing into more comfortable clothing or taking off his shoes. He plopped into bed and suddenly remembered the times when he and Elie would lay down in bed and talk until sleep came to them, and how he would sometimes wake up first and look at Elie sleeping soundly beside him and wonder he ever became so lucky.

His reverie was broken when his phone rang. It was Logan. "Hello?"

"We'll be at your house in 2 minutes," Logan said and hung up.

"What? Hello? Fucking hell," Kendall muttered. _What are they up to now?_

True enough, he heard the doorbell ring after two minutes and he heard his bandmates' voices from downstairs. Soon they invaded his room.

"Dude," Carlos said as he sat down by the edge of the bed, "why weren't you at lunch today? We were hoping you'd be there."

"Elie wouldn't want me there," Kendall replied.

"How can you be so sure?" James asked this time.

"C'mon guys, let's not do this," Kendall said, exasperated.

"That's it? You're giving up on Elie?" James pressed on.

"She doesn't want me around anymore," Kendall replied.

"You don't know shit," James said back.

"You don't know shit either," Kendall retorted.

James was starting to get pissed, so before he could say anything else that would escalate things, Logan stepped in.

"What James was trying to say was we got to talk to Elie during lunch and we thought… perhaps… there's still something there? Like dude, don't pretend you don't love her still," said Logan.

"And we asked her if she was still in love with you, and she said that she was tries not to be," James added.

Kendall had a confused look on his face.

"Which means, Kendall, Elie still loves you. Something's stopping her – and stopping you for that matter – to get back together," Logan went on.

"And that something is called London. Guys, she's there, I'm here. That's another set of problems to the current set of problems that we already have," Kendall countered.

"What is wrong with you, Kendall Francis Schmidt?" James raised his arms, shook his head, and started walking towards the window.

"WHY IS THIS ON ME? SHE'S THE ONE WHO LEFT, REMEMBER? SHE DISAPPEARED!" Kendall's voice was getting louder.

"She heard you on the bus, Kendall," James said from across the room.

"What?" Kendall was more confused than ever.

"Remember your last fight? We were in Boston and she flew out to see you?" James reminded Kendall. "And then you had this fight that got serious and really awful all of a sudden and you said things to one another that you probably didn't mean."

Kendall remembers. How can he forget?

James went on, "And you were ranting on the bus a few hours after. I was there, and apparently she was also there because she basically recited what you said to me then, when you said –"

"—that I did not need her and good riddance, now I can concentrate on important stuff," Kendall finished James' sentence. His heart dropped. _That wasn't true_, he thought_. I need Elie. I want her. And absolutely nothing is more important than her._

"How can I let this happen?" Kendall whispered. "You know that's not true, right?"

"She also believes that she's never going to be your priority. She's under the impression that you don't really need her," Carlos said.

Kendall shook his head. He felt sad, and then he felt a bit angry. "She left. She left without even allowing me to explain or to apologize or to…" he was pacing back and forth.

Logan stepped forward and handed Kendall a card with Elie's hotel address. "Do what you need to do, Kendall."

"But what do I need to do?" Kendall said, taking the card and putting it in his shirt pocket.

"Do you want to be with her or not?" Logan asked.

"But what if she doesn't want me anymore?" Kendall asked.

"Then at least you've said your piece and you can move on! It's really difficult watching you the past year have a really bad time about this. Just go and work things out or let go," Carlos told Kendall.

"She goes back to London tonight. Her flight's at around 8:30. If you need us to take you to her, let's go. We dropped her off at the hotel a few minutes ago, so she should be there, resting or packing or whatever," James said.

"I think I'll have to do this alone, but thank you guys. Thank you," Kendall said as he hugged each of his friends and got out of his room. He then got his car keys and started driving back to LA.

"Elie still loves me and God knows I really still love her," he said to himself, psyching himself up. But as he got nearer and nearer downtown LA, and especially when he got nearer and nearer the hotel, his heart started beating fast and his hands started to get clammy.

He pulled over the hotel driveway and let the valet take the car from him, and Kendall sprinted to the concierge. He gave Elie's name but when the concierge went to check, he told Kendall that Elie had checked out. Kendall's face fell and he looked like he was on the verge of crying. Mr. Concierge Dude must have taken pity on Kendall because he suddenly said, "But I believe she's sitting right there by the lobby, reading a book." He pointed Kendall towards where Elie was. True enough, hElie was deep into her reading and her suitcase was on the floor beside her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Kendall told the concierge. He took a deep breath and started walking towards Elie. Elie still hasn't looked up from her book or noticed anything was going on.

Before he reached Elie though, a hotel employee went to Elie and told her something, and proceeded to get her suitcase. Elie, in turn, started gathering her things and stood up. It was time to go to the airport. Kendall was in a panic. He sprinted to catch up with Elie, who was a mere 5 yards or so from the hotel door.

He then went in front of Elie to block her way, and only then did she notice Kendall. Needless to say, she was surprised.

"Elie, I need to talk to you," Kendall said. He didn't notice he was holding Elie's arm until Elie looked down at them. He removed his grip and immediately felt awkward afterward.

"Kendall, I have to go or I'm going to be late for my flight," Elie told Kendall.

"Please stay one more night. I'll pay for rebooking and your hotel and everything," Kendall pleaded.

Elie shook her head. "I really have to go. I'm sorry," she said as she walked past Kendall. Kendall caught up to her again and said, "Elie, please."

"My boss is waiting in the car. It's embarrassing to keep him waiting there. You are jeopardizing my job. What do you want me to do? Dedicate my life to you? I think I've done enough of that," Elie hissed. She regretted it as soon as she said it. She held her head down and quickly walked to the car that will take her to the airport.

Kendall was stunned at what Elie said. He didn't quite expect that from her, especially after what Logan, James, and Carlos had said. Were they lying? Was Elie lying? Either way, he still wanted to talk.

"So what was that about?" Stan asked Elie as she entered the car.

"Nothing," Elie replied.

"So what is it you're not telling me? I figured you and this Kendall person had a thing?" Stan pressed on.

Elie looked out the window, puffed her cheeks, sighed loudly and said, "Kendall is Kieran's dad."

Stan's mouth dropped open and he let out a "Oooooooooh. Go on, go on."

"And he doesn't know that Kieran exists," Elie said.

Stan's eyes widened. "I am gobsmacked. That's made-for-telly stuff right there. No wonder you're avoiding him. Bad breakup? What did he do?"

"It's a long story, Stan," Elie replied.

"We're looking at a 10-hour flight here, plus the 2 hours we'll be waiting at the airport," Stan chided. "That's 12 hours of story time."

Stan had been a great mentor to Elie and she was grateful for everything Stan had done for her, including hiring her and letting her stay on even though she had to take time off to give birth.

"Do you really want to hear it? It's really boring," Elie told Stan.

"Try me."

And so Elie proceeded to tell the Kendall and Elie story, starting from the time they met until what transpired earlier in the lobby. It went faster than she expected, and she finished the story before they even got to the ramp going to the LAX.

"That wasn't very long," Stan said.

"I know, but all my questions or your questions or everything I want to talk over – that should take a good chunk of the flight time," Elie said as the car pulled over to their gate.

"I'll buy you booze on the flight so you can tell me everything," Stan winked and got out of the car.

They had time to kill before boarding, so Stan went to the lounge and Elie decided to wander around the airport. She didn't think Kendall would follow her into the airport. She bought a couple of magazines and a coffee, and seated herself at a table near a speaker so she can hear if her flight's boarding already. It won't be for a couple of hours so there's no need to worry.

She was deep into that month's Computer Arts magazine when someone asked her if the seat in front of her was free. She looked up to say that nobody was sitting there and that he can go ahead and sit there if he wants. Turns out, it was Kendall.

"What now, Kendall?" Elie said as she closed her magazine. She was about to stand when Kendall stopped her.

"Can you please stop running away from me for just one second, Elie?" Kendall said. Elie leaned back on her seat, folded her arms over her chest, and looked away. Kendall went on, "I just want to talk to you." _We used to be able to talk about everything. What happened to us? _Kendall added, but only in his head.

"What do you want to talk about?" Elie asked.

"About us," Kendall said, looking intently at Elie.

Elie let out a sigh and looked at Kendall. "Go on then."

Kendall took a deep breath. There was quite a long pause before he went on. "I… really don't know where to start. There are many things I want to tell you. I want to ask you why you left without even saying anything. Elie, why did you leave? I'm sorry for what you heard. I hope you know I did not mean it, not in the slightest. Elie, you **are** the most important thing in my life. I'm sorry if I made you feel anything less than important. I miss you." His voice was breaking. While he was saying these things, Elie had her head down, fidgeting with her ring.

Kendall composed himself before he continued.

"You mean everything to me and I love you. I love you. I. Love. You. I don't know how many times I have to say it until you believe me again, and I'll keep telling you that until you do. I love you. I don't know if you still feel the same way after all this time, and this might be the weirdest place to ask you this but I hope you still feel the same about me. I mean… I hope we can give us another try." Kendall just went for it.

Elie was still looking down at her hands, her brows furrowed. Kendall looked at her with hope in his heart, wish for at least some chance with her again.

"A lot of things have changed since last year, Kendall," she finally said. She slowly shook her head. "And I don't think anything's the same."

_BA 282 bound for London is now boarding at Gate B._

Elie looked up to see if she heard right.

_BA 282 bound for London is now boarding at Gate B._

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said as she slowly eased out of her seat.

"Elie," Kendall said, barely audible.

Before she walked away, Elie put her hand on Kendall's shoulder and said, "Take care of yourself, Kendall."

Kendall sat for a long time following Elie's departure. He started wandering aimlessly around LAX, just trying to soak it in. He doesn't know what to think, really. Is this the closure he was looking for? He has told himself time and again that he wanted closure, that he wanted to know for sure that him and Elie were over and done with so that he can move on. It would seem that they were, but Kendall realized something which made him stop in his tracks.

"She didn't say no," Kendall thought aloud. "She didn't say no!" He said it loud enough for the passing people to look back at him with puzzled looks on their faces.

He got his phone from his pocket and called his brother Kevin. "Kevin, can you bring my passport to LAX. I'm going to London."

….

**First off, sorry for the looooooooong absence. I really had no idea what to do with Elie and Kendall when I finished the last chapter. I spent a long time staring into nothingness and then one day, I just started typing. Forgive the typos. I will go back later and edit those. I just want to get this out there. Hope you like **

**Second, good thing I already know what will happen next so what's left for me to do is to write.**

**xx**

**E**


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

"No, Kendall Francis, you are not going to London! What the fuck are you even doing at the airport, chasing Elie down?" Kevin yelled from the other line.

Even with the phone held a few inches from his ear, Kendall can hear his brother yelling at him.

"Calm down, Kevin" Kendall said. "I could always drive back home and get my passport myself. Now, are you going to help me or not?"

"Absolutely not. And I'm telling Mom!" Kevin replied.

"Okay then, I'm asking someone else," Kendall hung up on his brother and called Logan.

"Yelp," Logan answered.

"Can you help me get my passport from my house? Kevin's being a dick," Kendall said.

"What are you going to do with your passport? Going somewhere?"

"London."

"Lond- Nooooo," Logan said in disbelief. "Fucking seriously?"

"Fucking seriously." Kendall said with a little laugh.

"So you got to talk to Elie? Everything's okay?" Logan asked.

"I did get to talk to her and… well, it's not exactly okay yet…" Kendall trailed off.

"But you guys are okay, right?"

"Yyeeeaaaa - not really."

"Kendall. Does Elie know you're going to London?"

"It's a long story, Logie. I just need to get my passport here with me so I can go. I'm gonna buy a ticket now. Trust me on this," Kendall assured Logan.

"Alright, if you say so. I'll be there in a sec," and with that, Logan hung up.

Kendall went up to an airline ticket counter and asked to buy a ticket for the next London flight.

"That would be $1812, sir. Do you have any luggage?" the lady at the counter said.

Kendall was stunned at the price. "I just want to fly coach."

"Those are economy seats, sir. Are you taking them, and do you have any luggage with you?"

Kendall carefully took his credit card out of his wallet, gave it to the lady at the counter and said, "One-way ticket, no luggage."

About half an hour later, Logan called Kendall to tell him he'll be by the departure area in a couple of minutes and asked which gate he should go to. A few minutes passed and Kendall saw Logan's car pull up in front of him. The window rolled down. It was Kevin riding shotgun.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Kendall asked his brother.

"I actually told Mom and Dad about this little plan of yours, and Mom proceeded to pack a suitcase for you, you dumb shit. She says to let you make your own decisions and such," Kevin said, handing Kendall's bag through the car window. "And Logan here convinced me that you're a grown man, no matter how difficult that is to believe."

"I told him that if ever you hurt yourself from this, at least you'll learn from it and you can finally move on," Logan added from the driver's seat.

"Thanks, bros. I mean really, thank you," Kendall told Kevin and Logan.

"I hope she's worth all of this," Kevin said.

"All this and more, honestly. I wish I had the courage to do this a year ago," Kendall replied.

"Go get your girl!" Logan cheered on. And they drove away.

Elie's flight to London was pretty much uneventful. She and Stan talked a bit about her situation, and how Kendall was at the airport before they took off.

"That boy sure loves you," Stan quipped.

Elie didn't expect for Stan to say something like that. She took a gulp from her vodka tonic.

"Can I ask," Stan went on, "why you felt like running and why you are not too keen on getting back with him? The boy's virtually on his knees begging for your forgiveness. There's also the Kieran situation, which he isn't aware of." He motioned for the flight attendant to give Elie another drink, which the attendant obliged.

"My life's in London now. My job is there and I have no plans of quitting – unless you're planning on firing me."

"No, no, of course not," Stan said with a wave of his hand. "You know, I could always send you to Los Angeles, or let you handle the LA office."

"We have an LA office?" Elie asked.

"No, but we easily could. I've been thinking about setting shop in a couple of cities in America."

"No."

"Yes. And I'd be glad to let you settle back in LA, for your sanity," Stan said.

"I hope my love life or lack thereof will not determine my design career prospects," Elie groaned.

"They don't. It's just that a happy artist is a productive artist," Stan replied. "You're one of the best artists that my studio has, so we need to keep you happy in order to keep you in the company."

"Glad that you think highly of my skills, boss," Elie said.

A couple of hours later, they reached London Heathrow. Stan told Elie to take a day off so she can recover from jetlag, and that if she goes to work on Monday he will not pay her. Elie was glad to have an extra day to recover and to spend on bonding with Kieran.

The first thing she did upon arriving in London was to call Zamir's parents to tell them that she'll be over in a bit. She's glad to be home and to be able to see her son in a few short minutes. And then she called Zamir to tell him to go to his parents' house because she has stories. Also dinner.

Before she got into her car (she left it in the airport parking lot), she looked at all the planes flying in and out of Heathrow.

"I'm really home," she said with a smile.

…

Kendall had a long flight ahead of him. He bought a one-way ticket to London, he had a small bag of his clothes with him, and not much else. He needed a game plan and he had 10 hours to think things through. He didn't even know where Elie lived. He messaged Zamir.

_To: Zamir Brennan_

_From: Kendall Schmidt_

_Hey Zamir,_

_This will sound weird and all but I'm on my way to London right now._

_Fram: Zamir Brennan_

_To: Kendall Schmidt_

_Yeah. Why?_

_To: Zamir Brennan_

_From: Kendall Schmidt_

_I kinda got to talk to her in LA. I thought I should go after her._

_From: Zamir Brennan_

_To: Kendall Schmidt_

_DOES SHE KNOW?! This is crazy._

_To: Zamir Brennan_

_From: Kendall Schmidt_

_No. But I was thinking you're going to help me._

_From: Zamir Brennan_

_To: Kendall Schmidt_

_I don't have a death wish just so you know._

_From: Kendall Schmidt_

_To: Zamir Brennan_

_You're the only one who can help me._

_From Zamir: Brennan_

_To: Kendall Schmidt_

_Fuck it. Just text me when you get here. Elie's about to arrive so I don't know. Shit. Fuck it._

_From: Kendall Schmidt_

_To: Zamir Brennan_

_Thanks, man._

That's not much of a plan, but at least Kendall knew he had someone close to Elie who's willing to help him. Well, not quite willing, but he'll see.

…

Zamir was in a dilemma after speaking with Elie. He had spoken to Kendall earlier that day, and apparently he was on his way to London. And then a few hours later, Elie calls to say that she's back home and that she has stories. He knows they're probably about Kendall since Kendall messaged him about seeing Elie in LA. His dilemma was probably evident in his face, as it compelled Pam to ask.

"Problem?" Pam asked Zamir.

Zamir shifted in his seat and asked back: "What do you think of Elie and Kendall?

"I've always thought they'd end up together, like there's no question about it. When we met them in LA, they seemed so in love. You remember how shocked we were to see Elie here in London, pregnant and all," Pam replied.

"I know, right?" Zamir said, his voice rising. "Elie's back in London now, and then Kendall calls to tell me that HE'S in his way to London right now."

Pam's eyes widened. "Oh my God, does Elie know?"

"No," Zamir replied.

"Fucking hell," Pam whispered in disbelief.

"Fuckin' 'ell is right," Zamir said. "Kendall's asking me to help him with Elie, and Elie wants us to go to mum and dad's for dinner and also because she has stories. Now I know these are about Kendall. And what's worse, Kendall doesn't know about Kieran even though I kept telling Elie to tell Kendall that they have a son. Kill me now. I don't know what to do."

"Poor baby," Pam said as she patted her boyfriend's head. "We'll figure this out. Or wait, this is actually their problem. Let them figure it out."

…

Kendall got out of Heathrow Airport close to 5 in the afternoon. He doesn't have a place to stay yet, and he had neglected to tell Zamir that he was in London until he was standing outside, waiting for cabs. A car pulled up in front of him as we was trying to call Zamir and rolled the passenger side window down.

"May Allah forgive me for what I'm about to do and may Elie not kill me for what I'm about to do. Hop in," Zamir said from the driver's seat.

Kendall got in the car and was just looking wide-eyed at Zamir for the first 30 seconds or so and then leaned back on the car seat. "Thanks, man," he told Zamir.

"Shhhh, just shush. I'm trying to think about what I'm doing and apparently this does not make any sense at all," Zamir retorted.

"So where are we going?" Kendall asked.

"I said shush," Zamir replied.

Zamir drove for about half an hour until they reached a nice neighborhood lined with period buildings. They stopped at one of those period buildings and Kendall followed Zamir up some steps, which led to a ground floor apartment.

"This is a very nice place you have," Kendall said, looking around Zamir's flat.

Zamir looked like he wanted to say something but was not sure whether to say it or not.

"What?" Kendall asked.

"Take that bedroom over there," Zamir said, pointing to a bedroom at the end of the hallway. Zamir then proceeded to rattle off other areas of the house. Kendall noticed a spiral staircase leading to an upstairs area.

"Who lives upstairs?" Kendall asked, peering through the staircase. He looked back at Zamir, who suddenly turned pale. "Why, what's wrong?"

Zamir cleared his throat, then took a deep breath. "Elie. Elie lives there."

Kendall couldn't believe what he heard. "Is she upstairs right now?"

"Uh, no. She's at my parents' house because she's uh… you'll know later. But yes, she lives upstairs. I live down here with Pam."

"All this time?" Kendall croaked.

"All this time. I'm sorry, Kendall. Elie really didn't want me to tell you," Zamir said. He really felt sorry for Kendall.

"When… when can I see her?" Kendall asked.

"I can't take you with me to my parents' house for a lot of reasons. But let's just… you can wait here. It's just gonna be dinner and then Elie's gonna come home here after that. I have to help her with her bags and all that stuff. You will hear us come in, that's for sure. But if you fall asleep, don't worry. Like I said, she lives upstairs. You have plenty of time to go through what you want to say," Zamir replied.

Kendall nodded.

"You two have a lot to talk about. I really do mean that," Zamir said, gathering his keys and his coat. "Help yourself from the fridge. Pam and I will be back with Elie in a couple of hours."

"Thank you," Kendall said.

..

Zamir's mother prepared a huge feast as though Elie was her daughter who had been away for a decade. Even though that dinner was for Elie, everyone, including Zamir's sisters and parents, was cooing and fussing over 4-month-old Kieran. They were all seated in the family room when Elie handed Zamir coffee.

"You seem quiet," Elie said as she sat down beside Zamir and Pam. Pam whispered something to Zamir, and then got up to play with Kieran. Zamir took a deep breath and sighed.

"Probably just tired and too full from Mum's cooking. I had like 20 samosas or something," Zamir said as he sipped his coffee.

"Well, good. But don't sleep on me just yet when we get home later. I have a bunch of stuff to talk about," Elie said.

They sat at the couch, talking about random stuff. Elie mentioned something about not feeling too well, a headache coming on.

"I think it's time to go home, Z. I have a bit of unpacking to do. Luckily, I get the day off tomorrow," Elie said, getting up from the couch.

It was a quick drive back to the building where Elie, Zamir, and Pam lived. Zamir was bracing himself for what will eventually happen. Fortunately, Elie asked for a rain check on story time because her headache was starting to tear through her head. She also had to tuck Kieran in. She promised to come over for breakfast tomorrow.

Zamir and Pam entered their apartment and found Kendall sitting by the counter. Understandably, Pam was confused and looked at Zamir. Zamir just shrugged his shoulders and gave Pam a quick explanation.

"Okay, so what should we tell Elie when she pops in here with Kieran tomorrow?" Pam asked.

"Kendall needs to know somehow," Zamir replied.

"Who's Kieran?" Kendall asked.

Zamir and Pam did not expect that question and did not know how to answer it. Suddenly, they heard the front door lock turn and subsequently open. It was Elie.

"Hey guys, I think I left Kieran's vitamins here and do you have any headache…" Elie stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Kendall. "What are you doing here?"

Kendall was equally stunned.

"What is he doing here?!" Elie asked again, her voice getting louder.

"Elie, Elie, he's… he has stuff to tell that you might want to listen to," Zamir tried to calm Elie down with what he thinks is an explanation.

"I told you at the airport, Kendall," Elie said, turning towards Kendall," and you have said everything you have to say back there. So what the fuck do you think you're doing here, in my home?! What do you want? Stop it already!"

"Elie, he took a 10-hour flight just to see you. The least you can do is hear him out," Zamir told Elie.

"And YOU!" Elie glowered at Zamir. "I thought you're my friend and here you are hiding -"

"THE MAN YOU LOVE!" Zamir shouted back at Elie. "I'm sick and tired of standing between the two of you and having to be careful about what to say and what not to say. You try having those monthly phone calls!"

Everybody fell silent, each other's eyes.

Pam spoke up, "Guys, let's all talk like grown-ups, okay?"

And then they heard a baby crying from upstairs.

"I have to go back up to Kieran. I'm sorry I yelled," Elie said as she walked towards the door.

"Kieran?" Kendall asked, getting up from his seat.

Elie stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. "Kieran is my son."

"Elie," Zamir said.

"Not now, Z," Elie said. "Not now."

"He needs to know," Zamir said, voice straining.

"Not yours to tell, " Elie retorted back.

"You have a son?" Kendall asked. "And what do I need to know?"

Elie's feet seem to have been stuck in front of Pam and Zamir's door.

"Elie, tell him," Zamir pressed on.

"Now's not the right time for this, Zamir!" Elie yelled, clutching her head. "All I want for tonight is to rest this head. Please, please just give me tonight."

Zamir turned towards Kendall and said, "Kendall…"

"Baby, no," Pam told Zamir.

"…Kieran is your baby."

"God damn it, Zamir. Not yours to tell. Not yours to tell," Elie said as she hurried out the door.

Kendall just stood there with his mouth open, not quite knowing how to process the information Zamir just served him. He felt a hand guiding him to the nearest chair to prevent him from keeling over from shock.

"Is… is that true? We… we have a son?" Kendall croaked as Pam handed him a glass of water. "I have a son."

Zamir looked around his living room, picked up a picture of Kieran and Elie, and handed it to Kendall.

"Kieran Hunter Schmidt, born February 17th at Children's Hospital London, 8 pounds 2 ounces, blond hair, hazel eyes, very happy baby, very beautiful. You n made a great baby."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Kendall wondered. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I'm sorry, dude," Zamir told Kendall.

"He's a Schmidt? I have a son?" Kendall mumbled. "But why didn't she… why didn't anyone…"

…

Elie's headache got worse when she got back from Zamir's apartment. She changed Kieran's diaper and tried not to think about what could possibly happen now that Kendall knows, no thanks to Zamir. She took a painkiller and wished for sleep to come, but her head only pounded like a jackhammer for a good hour. Tomorrow might be worse.

.

.

.

_**Now he knows. Let's see what happens next! **___________

_**I'll go back one day and edit the typos in all the chapters. That I really promise; perhaps when this story's done. But right now I just really want to get it out there.**_


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

It was a beautiful London morning. Elie thought the same when she woke up, a numb pain still boring through her head, and then she remembered the night before. She started unpacking her suitcase from the LA trip and started to make herself breakfast, which she didn't feel like eating. She sat at the breakfast table for a good 20 minutes just playing with her food.

"What should I do now?" she thought aloud.

She heard Kieran stir and rose to get him changed and fed. She was in the middle of feeding Kieran when she heard something she dreaded that day: A knock on the door. She got up and lingered a moment before opening the door. It was Zamir. Elie rolled her eyes and groaned. She was about to close the door when Zamir put his arm in the way.

"No, no, wait, wait, here's Kieran's stuff," Zamir said as he tried to get Elie to keep the door open.

Elie got the baby vitamins from Zamir and then shut the door.

"ELIE, COME ON!" Zamir yelled from outside. He stormed back down to his apartment and slammed the door.

…

Back in Elie's apartment, Elie was babbling to Kieran, even though Kieran can't possibly understand anything. The baby looked at her with amused eyes as she babbled on.

"You know, baby, the problem with your uncle is that he meddles. You get that? When you grow up, don't be like him. Now he's told your dad about you, and now your dad knows. And yeah, yeah, your dad is downstairs in your meddling uncle's apartment!"

She fed Kieran the last spoonful of pureed carrots and started wiping pureed carrots from the baby's face and arms. She then put him down for his nap and was just coming from Kieran's room when she heard another knock on the door. She sighed loudly, walked towards the door, and hurriedly opened it.

"What do you want now, Zamir?" Elie said, only it was not Zamir. It was Kendall. "Oh."

Awkwardness ensues.

"Can I come in?" Kendall asked.

"I'm not sure," Elie said as she removed the washcloth from her shoulder. She cringed at her own answer. _I'm not sure? What the fuck, Elie?_

Kendall smiled a bit at Elie's facial expressions, but he quickly composed himself. "C-can I see him?"

"See who?"

"Elie…"

Elie sighed, and opened the door a bit wider. "Come on in, she said."

Kendall remembered the first time he entered Elie's apartment back in Los Angeles, and standing in Elie's apartment in London made him feel the same – nervous and excited.

"Do you want anything? Coffee? Water?" Elie offered.

"No, thanks. I'm good."

Another awkward silence.

"I just put him down for a nap," Elie said, looking down at her feet, then at the sofa, and then at the coffee table. Anywhere but Kendall's eyes. "But I guess you could, um…" Elie didn't know whether to take Kendall to Kieran's nursery or to have Kendall stay in the living room so she could get Kieran. She decided on the former, because Kieran might already be sleeping and she didn't want to interrupt.

Elie and Kendall entered Kieran's light-bathed bedroom, and Kendall's eyes became transfixed at the crib. He was nervous at the thought of meeting his son – a son he didn't even know about until last night. His thoughts were running, like _What does he look like? Will he like me? Is he happy? Do babies sense who their parents are?_

Elie walked up to the crib to see if Kieran was still awake. He probably was, because Elie started whispering to the baby and looking over Kendall, who was still standing by the door. She called out to him. "Come here, he's awake."

Kendall took slow, trudging steps to the crib, not knowing what to expect.

The moment he peeked into the crib, he knew he had fallen in love for the second time in his life. He found himself looking at what seemed to be a miniature version of him, albeit with somewhat darker hair and eyes. He also saw not only himself, but also Elie, in the way Kieran looked up at him with curiosity.

"Say hi to him," Elie encouraged.

"Hi, buddy. Kieran, I mean," Kendall started, not sure how to go about with it. "I'm your…" he looked at Elie beside him, who nodded for him to go on. "I'm your dad," Kendall continued. And Kendall didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought at that moment he saw a glint of recognition in Kieran's eyes.

"Do you want to pick him up?" Elie asked.

Kendall was nervous. He wasn't used to carrying babies, not even his little cousins. He always felt like he'd break them or drop them on their heads. All his fear was multiplied times a thousand because this was his son he was going to attempt to carry. He turned to Elie, "I'm kinda nervous. I might drop him or something."

"Don't be silly. If I was able to raise him for 5 months without a scratch, you can pick him up and hold him. You're much more nurturing and caring than I am," Elie blurted out before she can do anything about it. She carefully picked Kieran up.

"This little boy right here doesn't seem to want to take a nap! I guess he wants to meet his daddy. Kieran, do you want to meet daddy?" Elie cooed at Kieran. She then carefully placed Kieran on Kendall's awkward arms. Kendall adjusted his arms for a while before he got into a comfortable position. The baby played with his face as he talked to him. The baby then stopped playing and buried his head on Kendall's chest. Kieran was asleep. Kendall smelled the little boy's head.

"He smells like love, doesn't he?" Elie asked.

Kendall looked at Elie and replied, "Yes, he does."

Elie took the baby from Kendall and carefully put him back in the crib. Elie and Kendall took a couple of minutes to just look at the little boy sleeping.

Kendall found himself fighting back tears as he looked at both Elie and Kieran. As Elie got back up from putting a sleeping Kieran back in the crib, Kendall said, "We really need to talk, Elie."

They both went out of the baby's room and went straight to the dining area. Elie motioned for Kendall to sit by the dining table. Elie started to make tea and as the tea was steeping, sat across the table from Kendall.

"Where do we start?" Elie asked.

Kendall shifted in his seat. "I'm all sorts of angry and happy and sad and clueless. I'm angry because you kept this from me and it seemed like you didn't plan on telling me about Kieran. I'm sad because this is what we have come to, when we used to be so in-" Kendall stopped himself from saying "in love" because just the thought that their state of being in love was a thing that happened in the past made him feel like his stomach was being trampled upon by giants. He went on. "We were so close, Elie. We were best friends. I can't wrap myself around it. I'm also clueless because I don't know what to do. I really don't."

"I planned to tell you, of course," Elie said. "I just didn't know when. I didn't want it to look like I was out to destroy your career or take all your money."

Silence. Elie stood up to pour two cups of tea, one for Kendall and one for her.

"Since we're here, you can ask me anything you wanted to know since I ran off," Elie said. As she said this, she prayed that Kendall wouldn't corner her with difficult questions.

Kendall sighed, and then he asked, "When did you find out about Kieran?"

"About 3 weeks after I got back from visiting you," Elie said as she shook her head, remembering that time again. "We haven't talked in as long and that was about the time I decided to move to back to San Francisco to finish school. And then I figured I should move to London because I needed family around me – well, at least a semblance of family. You know, Zamir, Pam, the Brennan clan."

"Did you ever think about telling me?" Kendall asked again.

"Yes! Of course," Elie assured Kendall. Elie furrowed her brows, contemplating how much to tell Kendall. "I thought about telling you before your birthday, right before I moved to London but…" Elie trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"But what?" Kendall asked.

"You were already dating someone else during that time; I thought you looked happy and your career was going great. I didn't want to ruin your birthday," Elie smiled sadly.

"Georgia," Kendall said, saying the girl's name. "Are you dating anyone?" he asked.

Elie shook her head no. "Are you still dating… Georgia?"

"No, that only lasted a few weeks because…" Kendall stopped mid-sentence.

Kendall stopping mid-sentence made Elie look at Kendall with urgency, as though she was hanging on what he will say next.

"…I was still hung up on you," Kendall said, finishing his sentence. "Georgia's a nice girl and everything. She's great. But I now wish I didn't date her at all, if that meant seeing you again sooner and knowing about Kieran."

"I'm sorry," Elie said.

"We…" Kendall started, but he stopped and sighed instead. He went on, "I don't know what to feel, you see. There's anger because you kept this from me, there's sadness because you felt you had to keep this from me. I mean, Elie, we used to tell each other everything. What happened to us? But you know what, despite all that, I also feel happy because you're in front of me right now and we have a son whom I just met today but I love him so much. And I love you so much, Elie. I've been trying to tell you that for the past few days. I've been trying to tell you that for the past year that I've been looking for you. I love you. I just really wanted to say that over and over."

Elie could feel her hands shaking as Kendall said these things to her that she had to set down her mug so she won't spill tea on herself. She didn't know how to respond to that.

But before Elie could say anything, Kendall went on. "I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with you and I'm tired of chasing after you, Elie. I just want you to be happy too, even if it's not with me. I just hope I still get to see Kieran every once in a while."

"Of course," Elie croaked. "I'll arrange his passport and all that shit so he could meet your family and all his uncles in LA."

"I just really wanted to know that you're okay wherever you are. Please know that I'll always love you," Kendall said sincerely to a very quiet Elie.

They sat across one another for a good minute without uttering a word. It was Kendall who broke the silence. "I'm gonna go let myself out."

Elie nodded, unable to look at Kendall.

Kendall stood up, walked toward the door, and walked out of Elie's life. He's still going to be part of Kieran's life, that's for sure. But for Elie and Kieran, this looked like the end.

Kendall's steps seemed extra heavy as he walked down the stairs to Zamir's apartment. When he got in, Zamir noticed the heavy gait, the slouched shoulders, and the cumbersome expression. Zamir watched as Kendall plopped himself on the couch.

"What is up with you?" Zamir asked.

"I saw Kieran," Kendall replied.

"Beautiful boy, isn't he?" Zamir said. "But why do you look like your heart just got run over by 18-wheeler trucks?"

"I told Elie I'm not going to go after her anymore. I'm giving her peace and quiet," Kendall said.

"Are you?" Zamir asked, eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean?" Kendall didn't know what Zamir was insinuating.

"You came all this way to London to tell her that you are letting her go?"

"I came here to try and give us another chance, to convince Elie that we should be together."

"You've been here, what, a day? And you give up just like that?" Zamir scoffed at Kendall.

"Look, I'm not giving up. I'm just giving her what she needs, which is peace and quiet and for me not to bother her anymore. I've asked her a couple of times, Zamir. And if she hadn't come by LA for that meeting – and f or your information, she didn't know it was us that she was going to meet – I wouldn't have found her. She wanted nothing to do with me, as much as that hurts. But I want her to be happy, so I'm going to let her live her life."

Zamir rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, clearly exasperated at this saga.

"What?" Kendall asked.

"Has Elie told you that she doesn't love you anymore? And even if she has, don't believe her," Zamir said.

Kendall eyed Zamir suspiciously.

"Kendall, that girl upstairs loves you more than anything in this world. If you don't believe anything that I say, believe this one. Elie loves you," Zamir said.

"But she keeps pushing me away," Kendall countered.

"It's for your sake, she says," replied Zamir. "You know how her family died within a few years of each other, right?"

Kendall nodded.

"Well then, she has this fear that anyone who loves her is bound to die. It's weird and she won't admit that to anyone, and I'm telling you this now under pain of death because she made me promise not to tell anyone, not even Pam."

"But she's had boyfriends before, and friends, you guys. You love her, right?" Kendall asked.

"Let me clear that up. It's "anyone who loves her more than anything in the world" who's going to die or be harmed or something like that. She knows it's irrational but how could you argue with someone whose entire family died on her?" Zamir explained. "If you ask me who I love more than anything in this world, it's Pam. With Kieran, she feels like she could protect him, and that someday he will love someone else more than anything in this world so he's safe. But you, dear man, she fears losing you."

"That's insane," Kendall said.

"She's right in thinking that you love her that much, right?" Zamir asked.

"More than anything and anyone," Kendall replied sincerely.

"And that's where the fear comes from. She feels like she's bad for people, you know? She feels like she's a hindrance to your career, to your growth, all that shit."

"Zamir, I'll drop anything to be with her. Anything. Damn this career if that's what she's worried about."

"You don't quite understand. She wants you to be happy. Everything you do – the singing, the acting – all that makes you happy. And I quote, "to take that away from him would be selfish and tantamount to punishing him for life. Nobody should live that way," end quote," Zamir said. "She uses words like tantamount, you know how she is."

"None of this matters if she's not here with me," Kendall said.

"That's what you should've told her instead," Zamir quipped.

"It's not that I'm giving up, you know," Kendall explained, "but I'm trying to give her time to figure out what she wants in life."

"By telling her that you're abandoning her?" Zamir asked.

"No, it's not like that," Kendall sighed. "Do you even think I can do that? This hurts me too, you know? I just need to give her what she wants, and maybe she'll be happy."

"She won't be. I'm betting you anything right now that she's crying upstairs," Zamir said.

The thought of Elie crying made Kendall tear up. He then said, "I am not giving up on her; I just want her to be happy. I'm glad we have Kieran because we'll still be part of each other's lives, in varying degrees."

"You sound like a creepy stalker, I'm sorry," Zamir retorted.

"What do you want from me?!" Kendall said, starting to get irritated at Zamir's line of questioning.

"I want you to set things right! I agreed to help you because only you can make her happy!" Zamir shot back.

"She doesn't want me back. You tell me she loves me, but perhaps now's not the right time to pursue it," Kendall said.

"What if she finds somebody willing to be with her, someone who's clearly not you, but who soldiered on, and was there for Elie whether or not she needed him?" Zamir asked.

"That's not fair to me, Zamir, you know that," Kendall said, a hurt look in his eyes.

Zamir was silent for a minute and then suddenly spoke up. "She's a strong woman; I'm not doubting that for one bit, and she can live without you. But I've seen how she is without you, Kendall, and it's not the Elie I know. Sometimes I can't look her in the eye because I feel sad whenever I do. Pam and I, we try to take her out and make her smile but we know she's missing a piece of something. She plows herself through lots and lots of work, and she still takes care of Kieran. On top of that she does freelance stuff. She doesn't rest, Kendall. Sometimes I'm grateful for her headaches because it makes her stop and rest, but if it were up to her she wouldn't stop. It's as though she doesn't want to sit still and be quiet and think. It's because her thoughts will ultimately go to you."

Kendall shook his head. "Zamir, I…"

"No, let me finish," Zamir said. "She was alone when she gave birth. She was alone during doctor's visits. Pam and I were so impressed, but we caught her crying a few times. She's embarrassed when that happens, but we tell her that she'll be alright, that you'll come back, that you guys will ultimately end up together. Then she went through all that explanation about keeping you safe and all that. Cheesy as this may sound, and I cringe that I even said this, I told her that your love for each other will keep you both safe."

"This is all so confusing," Kendall moaned.

"Don't tell her you're leaving, for starters," Zamir said.

"I do have to go back to LA soon," Kendall said.

"Yeah, I know, but don't give Elie the impression that you won't be there anymore when she's finally ready to face you."

"All I told her was that I'm tired of chasing after her. I never told her I'm stopping," Kendall said.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Zamir said, smiling.

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late upload. I'm thinking a couple more chapters for this one, and then I have a new story to write. I actually wanna continue this for a lot longer, but you might get bored. I'm probably gonna upload a chapter of the new story first to see how the response is and if it's good, I'll go on with it. Thanks again for all your kind words, and keep rooting for Elie and Kendall! :D 3**


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

Around lunch time the next day, Zamir hears a knock on his door. It was Elie, carrying Kieran. Elie looks horrible. She looked pale and there were bags under her eyes.

"Can you take care of Kieran for a bit?" Elie said in a weak voice. She looked like she was about to drop Kieran, so Zamir quickly took the baby from her, as well the bag with Kieran's stuff on it.

"Jesus, Elie. What's wrong with you?" Zamir asked, concerned.

"I might be contagious, so I'm putting Kieran here for a while. Don't worry, I'm gonna go out and buy something for this. My head hurts like a motherfucker," Elie replied.

"Kendall went out to buy food. Do you want me to have him buy your medicine?"

Elie shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's fine. Let's not."

"Okay, but call me if you need me or Pam to take you to the doctors or get you from the pharmacy," Zamir said. "Do you have your phone with you?"

Elie nodded weakly and walked towards the building door.

The last thing she remembered before fainting was opening the door and Kendall catching her as she fell.

…

Kendall was knocking on Zamir's door with his foot. He dropped his bag of food when he saw Elie falling and caught her by instinct.

"Holy shit," Zamir exclaimed as he opened the door and sees Elie unconscious in Kendall's arms. Kendall carefully laid Elie down on the sofa.

"She's burning up," Kendall said, worried. "Where's… where's Kieran?"

"He's in his cot in our room. Elie took him here because she thought she might be sick," Zamir replied.

Kendall nodded understanding, and kneeled right next to Elie in the sofa. He stroked her hair. "Elie? How are you feeling?"

Elie only half-opened her eyes, but didn't say anything. She closed her eyes and was unconscious again.

"We need to call the doctor," Kendall told Zamir. Zamir went to the phone and called a GP.

"Do you have her house keys? I'm going to take her upstairs." Kendall asked Zamir as he searched for keys in Elie's pocket. He found it, gave it to Zamir, and lifted Elie off the couch. "Open the door for me, please."

Zamir got the keys and opened the door to Elie's apartment. "I haven't set foot in here a while, but it's still freaky how clean she keeps this place."

Meanwhile, Kendall was still carrying a semi-conscious Elie in his arms. "Uh, Z? Where's her bedroom?"

"Oh, yes, sorry. It's right here," Zamir said, leading the way to the bedroom.

Kendall carefully laid Elie on the bed and stroked her hair. He turned towards Zamir. "We should call a doctor. She's burning up and she looks so pale," Kendall said, very worried about Elie's state.

Zamir took the phone from Elie's bedside table and dialed a GP. "Doc says he'll be here in about half an hour. What do we do until then?"

"Her clothes are sweaty. We need to change her clothes," Kendall said.

Zamir recoiled in horror. "YOU change her clothes. I will gladly guide you to where she keeps her clothes, but I'll bolt out the room once you start undressing her." Zamir shudders.

"Don't be ridiculous," Kendall hissed at Zamir. "She's really sick and her clothes are wet, so we need to change them."

Zamir still had that strange look on his face.

"Fine!" Kendall grunted. "Go make yourself useful and get me a basin of water and a washcloth, and find me some pajamas for her."

Zamir did as he was told but quickly left the room. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything else!"

Kendall rolled his eyes at the childishness. He then turned his focus back to Elie. He tried talking to her.

"Elie, please don't be mad that I'm doing this. I need to change your clothes. I also need to bring down your temperature as best as I can before the doctor gets here, hence the washcloth. So please don't think I have something naughty in mind."

All Kendall heard were sounds of Elie's breathing.

Kendall carefully removed Elie's sweaty t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, and gently wiped the sweat and the heat off her skin using the washcloth. He did this for about a minute, and then put the pajamas on her. He was debating whether he should remove her underwear, which were soaked in sweat as well, but decided against it, knowing that Elie will be so mad at him when she finds out.

A few moments later, as Kendall was taking the basin back to the bathroom, he heard Zamir call out that the doctor was already there.

The doctor assessed Elie's present state, took her temperature, and asked questions about what she had been doing the past days.

"Who is her next of kin?" the doctor asked.

Zamir pointed at Kendall before he had a chance to respond. "Him. He's the, uh, significant other."

"I see. Mr. -?"

"Schmidt. But call me Kendall," Kendall said as he shook the doctor's hand.

"Okay, Kendall. I understand you and Elie here have a son? Where is the child now?" the doctor asked.

Zamir pipes in. "Baby's with me, because Elie was worried she might be contagious so I'm babysitting for a while."

"All right," said the doctor, turning his attention back to Kendall. "She's not actually contagious, so you guys could bring the baby back up here, but if you have someone to take care of your child while you take care of the mother, that's actually better."

All this talk about taking care of Elie and how they have a kid and how this is all sounding like they have been a family all this time made Kendall a bit flustered. He mustered enough focus to ask the doctor what was wrong with Elie.

The doctor responded, "Exhaustion, from the trip and all. Plus, she hasn't been eating or sleeping well since she got back from America. This also triggered her migraine and her nausea."

"Oh," Kendall whispered softly. He felt like this was his fault, that the stress of him following Elie to London took a toll on Elie.

"Make sure she eats, Kendall. The fact that she fainted mean she hasn't been getting enough sustenance. The only good thing about her fainting is that it forced her to rest. She'll come to after a few hours, when she's slept long enough to make up for all the sleep she lost," the doctor said. Elie's welfare is on Kendall's hands now. He's not sure how much she'll like that.

"I gave her a shot for her fever, but if it comes back, have her take this," the doctor said, scribbling on a prescription pad and then handing it to Kendall. "There's also a prescription fo r her headache, something stronger so she doesn't suffer much. If she's still the same after a couple of days, take her to the hospital immediately."

Kendall nodded, gave his thanks to the doctor, and walked him to the door. Zamir mentioned something about checking up on Kieran and coming back in a few hours. Kendall is now alone with an unconscious Elie.

He walks back to the bedroom and sits at the edge of the bed. Elie looked as though the stress of the past few days was slowly melting away with each minute that she sleeps. Kendall pushes back the stray hairs that landed on Elie's face. They haven't been this close since… Kendall can't even remember when they have been this close before. The feeling's equal parts familiar and nerve-wracking. He decides he's just going to let this moment sink in and cherish it, for he doesn't know if they can ever be this close again.

He takes Elie's hands into his and softly whispers, "I hope I'm not intruding. I really love you, Elie. Let me take care of you."

The slow rhythm of Elie's breathing tells Kendall that Elie is deep into dreamland.

He watches her sleep as his thoughts continue to bombard him. His thoughts go to the moment they met, to the moment they realized how they felt about one another, to their time together, to their separation, to how he felt pining for Elie and looking for her the past year, to seeing her again and knowing about Kieran. In doing so he has relived all the hurt and the joy of the past year, the heavy feeling in his chest confirming this.

He heard the front door open. He stood up and walked towards it to see who it was. It was Pam and Zamir with food, carrying Kieran with them.

"We thought you might want to eat. It's getting late," Pam said as she set Kendall's food on the dining table. Kendall sat down and poked at the food. He could hear Kieran getting a little fussy.

"C'mon, Baby K. Be nice to Uncle Z," Zamir said, getting exasperated. "I don't know what is up with him. I fed and changed him already."

"Can I hold him?" Kendall suggested.

Zamir and Pam looked at each other. Zamir shrugged his shoulders and rose from the couch to hand Kieran to his father. Much to everyone's delight, Kieran immediately calmed down and smiled when Kendall held him.

"Wow, man, you're really getting good at this," Pam quipped.

Kendall was surprised too, but he guesses he shouldn't be since he is indeed Kieran's father. "Did you give your uncle a hard time, huh, Kieran?"

Kieran just smiles mischeviously, as though he understood what Kendall told him.

"We can put the sling on you so you could have both hands free while you eat," Zamir volunteers.

"Sling?" Kendall asked, puzzled. Zamir held up a piece of cloth with a couple of metal rings. "That's it?" he asked, incredulous.

"The baby loves it, and he can be close to you but you still get to keep both hands free," Zamir said, salesman-like. "Honey, help me put this on him. Get the baby."

Together, Pam and Zamir put the sling on Kendall to keep Kieran close to him. Kendall was a little wary because how could a long piece of silk hold a nearly 5-month-old baby safely? But Elie used this sling, and he trusted Elie's judgment that Elie would keep their son safe all the time. And he has to admit, it works rather well.

The three of them chitchat for a few minutes about the food, the sling, Kendall's impending return to LA, and all other stuff that doesn't directly relate to Elie and all the complications that her relationship with Kendall has.

But Kendall, sensing that he had nobody else to talk to about Elie's lost year (as he calls it in his head) suddenly asked, "Do you think Elie and I will ever go back to how we were before?"

Zamir and Pam fell silent. Kendall stroked his son's hair and went on, "How could she ever think she's bad for me, when all she did was make me happy? I mean, didn't she see how happy I was? How happy we were?"

"Don't worry, Kendall. She does love you," Pam consoled him.

"Like I told you yesterday, she loves you more than anything in this world. You and Kieran both," Zamir said. "It's just that, well, you know her deal."

"She's guarded," Kendall said.

Pam and Zamir nodded in agreement.

**It's a short one and I'm sorry for not updating often.**


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